Diary of a Wimpy Kid
This was given to me by a middle school librarian who wanted to suggest to me that more books be written in this format (I like to draw and write), because it's very easy for struggling readers to connect to. The print is large and "handwritten", the drawings are clever, and the book is quite long, even though it only took me about an hour to read. Yet, there was nothing about the book that was remedial. It's not in the same class as Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , but it's comparable in both style and theme. You could say that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the middle school, white, tamed down version of
Sherman Alexie's book, but still has the same undercurrent of biting honesty. I think it's genius and speaks to a larger audience than just troubled readers.
Author: Jeff Kiney
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2 comments:
Hi Dejah. I'm a fan of diary-style books, whether for children or adults, and I recently got this book. The handwriting font, the lined paper, and the disarmingly "simple" drawings do make this book very accessible. I can easily see kids reading this book who might not want to read other books or even read at all.
For its humour and diary style, this book is very much in the tradition of Louise Rennison (the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson) and, before that, Sue Townsend (the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole), both of whom I love. (The Bridget Jones diary books extend the tradition to adults.) These books are British, so the Wimpy Kid diary being American will appeal more to Americans (I presume).
Interesting to read your comments on various books!
I have a lot of ambivalence about Greg Heffley, mostly because he's such a jerk to his family and friend, but I do recommend the book fairly often.
It's excellent for the boys who only want to read Calvin & Hobbes and are too young for 'Part-Time Indian', which, I agree, is a gem.
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