Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I teach 4th grade in an inner-city elementary school, and this book gets top marks from me for one primary reason: the kids in my class love reading it!

The fact that my diverse class can be so excited by one single book is a small miracle, but the simple illustrations and related storylines have captured the imaginations of my students, who are have been hard at work on their own journals since the school year began. I am going to start reading a similarly styled, but slightly more highbrow book, "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole."

Believe the hype about this book!

He is not big on reading but has entered Middle School and due to being on punishment had nothing else to do, he read it in one day and loved it. Now I am getting part II for him as a surprise. I think that on many levels it speaks to him because he is in the moment and can relate to the writer's point of view.

Adapted from the popular web comic, this fictional diary is written from the perspective of eleven year old Greg Heffley, plaintively relating his experiences of middle school and being a middle child. The text appears as if hand printed in a notebook and contains frequent single panel cartoons throughout. I'm much older than this book's target demographic but was still repeatedly "laughing out loud" while reading it. Recommended for both kids and adults.

Dairy of a Wimpy Kid
By Jeff Kinney

Online game developer/designer and now author Jeff Kinney introduces his audience to Greg Heffley, a rather puny, mildly popular, intellectual (but not interested in embracing that quality) middle schooler whose journal reflections will keep the reader chuckling.

As with most middle school kids, Greg finds this time in his life wrought with lofty ideals, deflating disappointments, and intimidating challenges. His mother buys him a journal in which he chronicles his thoughts about his life and activities in and out of school. At school, his familiar and funny misdaventures include avoiding the cursed touch of the infamous aged, begrimed, and sun-fried cheese; attempting to boost his self-image by running a smear campaign to win a student council; and wrestling in a form-fitting leotard in P.E. At home, he is sandwiched between his older brother Rodrick (who enjoys many more freedoms than Greg) and his annoying, over-indulged younger brother Manny (who gets EVERYTHING he asks for at Christmas).

The first of four books in a series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons became a #1 New York Times Bestseller. The reader need but read the first page to get a taste of the humor and enjoyment of Kinney's witty combination of text and cartoons: "First of all, let me get something straight: This is a JOURNAL, not a diary...All I need is for some jerk to catch me carrying this book around and get the wrong idea. The other thing I want to clear up right away is that this was MOM's idea, not mine." Greg Heffley is a twenty-first century Charlie Brown--he just can't seem to catch a break. Readers from middle school through high school as well as adults will enjoy the good-intentioned, hilarious, and unfortunate antics of Greg Heffley.

My son loved this book. My son has ADHD and it is torture for me to get him to sit still and read or do homework. I purchased this book on a whim and hoped he would at least look at it. My son is 8 1/2 and blew through this book in 3 weeks, I bought the second one and he read that one in less than a week1!