Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

1. Bibliography:

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. New York: Amulet, 2007.

2. Genre and Awards:

Graphic novel.

Quill Awards finalist. Borders Original Voice winner. One of Publisher Weekly's Best Books of 2007. Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards nominee for "Favorite Book" in 2008.

So they aren't the most credible, but I have other award-winners!

3. Synopsis:

Middle-school student Greg Heffley is terrified of being caught with a book that says “diary” on the front. He is absolutely certain that they will get the wrong idea. His mom made him write a diary, though, to document his seventh grade year. Greg intends for his journal to be something to appease his mom, but ends up using the cartoons and text to deal with some of the traumatic issues of middle-school life.

4. Characters:

Greg is the main character of the novel. His brother Rodrick is older and the classic bully. He’s the one who especially CANNOT find out that Greg writes in a “diary”. Their mom is in the novel insomuch as she is the facilitator of Greg’s writing. Greg’s once best friend, Rowley, is that kid who hits seventh grade and comes into his social butterfly nature. Greg’s attempts to process this rise to fame are what form the basis of the novel’s plot.

5. Plot:

Basically, the plot is this: Greg Heffley is trying to fit in. He will do anything and everything to do so. The book is filled with antic after antic of his trying to analyze what the cool kids do to get cool and self-assessing his ranking on the list of popular kids. The events that Greg relates to us are all fairly easy to get and to get hooked on, which explains some of the excitement among reluctant readers and the Captain Underpants crowd.

6. Needs of Adolescents:

This book was made for middle school students. It hits on almost all the high points of the classic, awkward, hilarious, and utterly terrifying experience that is seventh grade. There is something for every kid who has ever struggled with feeling out of place, left behind, completely humiliated by those people who birthed them, etc… - oh wait, that’s everyone who has ever been to middle school.

7. Possible Classroom Uses:

I am not sure how this could be helpful in teaching lessons, except maybe to examine the discourse and look at how one writes in a diary/journal versus how one writes an expository, professional piece. It is the ultimate book to give a struggling reader or one who just isn’t interested in reading. It seems like it would be easy to get caught up in, go by pretty fast, and be really accessible content-wise to students.

8. Appropriate Age Range:

I would say fifth to eighth grade. I know this is a series, so maybe if Greg grows up in some of the later books, they might be okay for older students. I can’t see a ninth grader being interested in the plight of seventh grade anymore, though. They are SO past that.

9. Personal Reactions:

The graphic novel is not my forte. Oh, wait; this is the first one I have ever read. There was really only one reason I picked up Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My roommate is a sixth grade teacher and this book is the hottest thing on her reading shelf and I can say that it was a cute book. I do love the language because of how distinctly I can hear my roommate’s students in it. That is what makes it so relatable for them. As ashamed as Greg is to carry around a “diary”, so too are many of those kids ashamed to talk about or admit that they are dealing with the issues that Greg is, but confronting them head-on in a book like this would be a good outlet for them.