Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a wimpy kid.  New York, NY. Amulet Books.

Greg is the middle child who is starting middle school. He has been labeled "gifted"  and he hasn't hit his growth spurt just yet.  Greg enjoys playing video games (but his parents don't quite approve) and drawing comics (as we see through out his journal entries). He has an older brother, Rodrick, who plays all sorts of pranks on him.  And a a little brother, Manny, who can do no wrong according to his parents.  He also has a dorky best friend Rowley who he "takes under his wing" because he feels sorry for him, but he also tries pranks on him like his older brother does to himself. Greg goes on to describe his daily life as a middle schooler through each of his journal entries.  He describes each of his encounters and thoughts about friends, parents, brothers, girls,  school and the "Cheese Touch".  He experiences a video-game ban (in trouble with his parents), class elections for Treasurer, battling tricky teenagers on Halloween,  starting a weight-training program, preforming as a tree in the Wizard of Oz play, not receiving gifts from his wish list on Christmas, breaking his best friend's hand, joining and later getting kicked out of safety patrols,  and entering a cartoonist competition for his school newspaper.  Perhaps his biggest problem is loosing his best friend after lying about a safety patrol incident with some of the Kindergarteners.  He is able to later save his friendship when he takes the blame and tells everyone that he touched the cheese on the basketball court and therefore had the "cheese touch" (a little like the cooties).  

Characters, plot and style make this novel of contemporary realistic fiction a favorite.  The main character is unrealistic in illustration because of the cartoon drawings of himself.  However, he is a relatable kid because he is going through the same struggles that many young boys are going through as they enter middle school.  He is dealing with friends, liking girls, wanting to gain muscle and wanting to be popular or at the very least the kid that doesn't get made fun of.  The plot of this book is different than most other books in this genre.  Although there is one main problem in the story (his relationship with Rowley), we get to laugh at an entire school year's worth of crazy shenanigans, which makes for never a dull moment and keeps us wanting to read more.  The style of this book is witty and corky.  We see all of Greg's thoughts and feelings because we are reading his diary, but the added bonus of seeing his comics and cartoons complete with speech bubbles adds a hilarious side to otherwise normal issues of middle school.  It's unique, charming, and comforting that we don't have to take problems to seriously.  It is a great read for anyone entering middle school.

To see a trailer for Diary of a Wimpy Kid go to http://www.wimpykid.com/books/book1-2/