Review
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
The first of three installments, it is an excellent choice for reluctant readers, but more experienced readers will also find much to enjoy and relate to in one seventh grader's view of the everyday trials and tribulations of middle school.Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA All rights reserved.. It offers some of the same adventures as the Web book, but there are enough new subplots to entertain Funbrain followers. This version is more pared down, and the pace moves quickly. Kinney does a masterful job of making the mundane life of boys on the brink of adolescence hilarious. His print debut should keep readers in stitches, eagerly anticipating Greg's further adventures. While Greg is not the most principled protagonist, it is his very obliviousness to his faults that makes him such an appealing hero. Kinney's background as a cartoonist is apparent in this hybrid book that falls somewhere between traditional prose and graphic novel. His attempts to prove his worthiness in the popularity race gare constantly foiled by well-meaning parents, a younger and older brother, and nerdy friends. Created by an online game developer, he has starred in a Web book of the same name on www.funbrain.com since May 2004. For instance, on Halloween, Greg and his best friend, Rowley, take refuge from some high school boys at Greg's grandmother's house; they taunt the bullies, who then T.P. her house. Greg is a conflicted soul: he wants to do the right thing, but the constant quest for status and girls seems to undermine his every effort. Kinney has a gift for believable preteen dialogue and narration (e.g., "Don't expect me to be all 'Dear Diary' this and 'Dear Diary' that"), and the illustrations serve as a hilarious counterpoint to Greg's often deadpan voice. This print version is just as engaging. Ages 8-13. g All rights reserved.Grade 58Greg Heffley has actually been on the scene for more than two years. Middle school student Greg Heffley takes readers through an academic year's worth of drama. Greg's journal entry reads, "I do feel a little bad, because it looked like it was gonna take a long time to clean up. Kinney's popular Web comic, which began in 2004, makes its way to print as a laugh-out-loud "novel in cartoons," adapted from the series. Greg's mother forces him to keep a diary ("I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I specifically told her to get one that didn't say 'diary' on it"), and in it he loosely recounts each day's events, interspersed with his comic illustrations. Starred Review. The hero's utter obliviousness to his friends and family becomes a running joke.