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Title
Diary
of a Wimpy Kid
Author
Jeff
Kinney
Age Range
9 - 12
Brief Description
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. Middle
school student Greg Heffley takes readers through an academic year's
worth of drama. 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. 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. The hero's utter obliviousness to his
friends and family becomes a running joke. 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's journal entry reads, "I do feel a little bad, because it
looked like it was gonna take a long time to clean up. But on the bright
side, Gramma is retired, so she probably didn't have anything planned
for today anyway." Kinney ably skewers familiar aspects of junior high
life, from dealing with the mysteries of what makes someone popular to
the trauma of a "wrestling unit" in gym class. His print debut should
keep readers in stitches, eagerly anticipating Greg's further adventures
