Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Leroy - Greg Heffley- Middle Schooler, Good Friend, Unlucky Kid and...DIARY KEEPER!? This is not a Diary, this is a Journal: Greg Heffley is your ordinary teenage boy. He has a good friend. He has good grades. An annoying little brother, and an even more annoying older brother. However, his life gets turned upside down when he gets taken from his easy life in Elementary School, and is thrust into the hustle and bustle of Middle School. Not only does he have to worry about school, but also keeping the one thing he has- a secret. Greg Heffley has a Diary. This book is his Diary, which he is trusting you with, so as to keep his secrets, well...secrets. After entering Middle School, not only does he find that 99% of every guy there is taller than him and doesn't practice basic hygiene, but also that 99% of the school has started to take a liking to his best friend Rowley. However, after trying to take advantage of his buddy's popularity, a wild and crazy adventure unfolds. Read on, as Greg tries to maintain his "cool kid" mentality, but utterly fails. (And now, a short message from Leroy: Hey guys! Just saying, this book is freaking sick, but don't just take my word for it. Read it for yourself! And as always- Keep on READING! - Leo)

Starred review from March 5, 2007
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. Ages 8-13.