The Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Written by Jeff Kinney
Review by Troy Parrish

This is the first book in what is becoming a series of books which are unquestionably targeted at boys. The stories (if you can call them that) follow the character Greg Heffley, a 6th-grade weakling trying to make his way through the middle school world. The book presents these stories if the form of a spoof journal, so each segment is a page long, perfect for those short little bursts of reading with plenty of illustrations to accompany the text, and the pictures add to the humor putting it into the category of a graphic novel (or in other words a fancy long comic book).

The humor is engaging and the majority of the time touches only on the type of awkward situations that kids find themselves in while in school. From the toxic slice of cheese that has been on the outside basketball court for the entire school year to being teased because of your name, Kinney turns these dilemas into moments of humor. As a guy I could identify with many of the situations as I recalled my own social situations growing up which added a touch of reality to the books but not so much so that I became uncomfortable. Of course, in the writing about the life experience of boys, Kinney writes about the meaner and scatalogical as well. The main character's (Greg) attitude about his best friend leaves much to be desired. This, I believe, reveals the typical struggle kids have in middle school with wanting to be popular (Rowley, Greg's best friend is a nerd) and not Greg's ideal choice in friends. When there is a falling out between he and Rowley, Greg is reduced to befriending another boy who is deemed even lower on the social ladder. Greg is relieved when the rift between he and Rowley is healed so he can avoid socializing with this other boy.

Kinney does demonstrate that Greg's decisions do have consequences, some that Greg pays and some that he is able to pass off onto someone else. Make no mistake, while the book is funny it makes no attempts at moralizing. Greg at times does show remorse for his decisions and actions but not always, and as one would expect, he is most often remorseful because he has gotten caught or there are some serious consequences to his actions brought on by mom or dad. I believe that this reflects how many kids (and people for that matter) operate, literature can be used to elevate and educate. This book is about entertaining and as such doesn't provide any moral compass. Several reviewers really pinged this book for the whiny, selfish and at times sadistic quality of the main character, and in truth the reviewers are right about the lack of integrity the main character displays.

In reading the reviews written by others about this book, it is evident that it is typically a hit with boys, noting that boys have a tendency to read the books rapidly and eagerly. My teen age boys read the book both finding it "OK". (Actually we had two books and they read both in a matter of two days). My oldest son very deftly noted that while he found the book funny that he would not want his 10 year old brother to read it because of the attitudes and behaviors demonstrated in the book. If you are looking for a book that your boy will read voluntarily, he will most likely read this one without prodding. The lack of moral teaching can be problematic but could be solved by discussing the situations with your son and talking about what would be the right thing to do in these situations. But these books are written to be engaging for boys and based on my reading of the book and the overwhelming number of positive reviews received by the book boys do find this book entertaining and they read it. If you are concerned about values being taught in the books you boys read, this is probably not be the book for you.