Kellie V.- First Book Review- Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Summary:
              Greg Heffley is a normal middle-schooler who has a very creative view of the people who surround him. He constantly is expressing his own self-interested views and comparing them to the views of the other characters. Greg finds out that he doesn't really fit into any specific social group in his school yet constantly tries to impress his peers in various comical ways. From creating his own haunted house or by writing comics for his school newspaper, Greg explores multiple ways to discover who he wants to be.

Analysis:

A Male's Perspective.
              Diary of a Wimpy Kid is one of the few novels that is directed at middle-schoolers and also has a male protagonist. Greg is ornery and unafraid of expressing his views of the middle school environment which he has leaped into.
              The beginning of middle school has Greg feeling uneasy about his size and stature. It also has him questioning his past friendships which could possibly deem him as "uncool". Through these disadvantages we see how Greg tries to prove himself  as a tough, smary, saavy guy to his peers through acts, such as: attempting to become class treasurer, gaining muscle to seem tough, and giving up home economics because he was too good at embroidery. All of these instances have caused Greg to question and prove his masculinity to his classmates.
              Whereas, if this text was from a girl's perspective, it would have a very different outlook on the people in middle school. The fact that Greg is a normal kid, if a little scrawny, has a tremendous impact on how we view the characters of his middle school. Most novels which are written from a female protagonist's view point are centered around how well their clothes look, who the new couples are, and what new romantic comedy is playing in theaters. Through Greg's eyes we can see the complete 180 of  what subjects are really worrisome to boys. Since there aren't many books with male protagonists, it is refreshing to see the silliness and the absurdities that are presented.

The Selfish Adolescent.
               In many instances in the novel, Greg is faced to make hard decisions which not only affect himself but other people around him. Oftentimes, Greg does not make the "right" decision, instead he decides on what will get him in the least trouble or what will put him in the best light.
               This is a common occurrence when considering adolescents' choices, they always seem to choose an option which makes them look good to their peers or their supervisors. Greg seems to be the king of misinterpreting other people's views and construing them to make sense when considering his own thoughts. An example: On Halloween, Greg taunts some high-schoolers while hiding out in his Grandma's house. The next morning on his way to school, Greg notices that his Grandma's house has been covered in toilet paper. He decides that it is lucky his Grandma is retired so cleaning up that toilet paper will be something for her to do that day. An adult would feel guilt over the matter, but instead Greg is optimistic about not having to clean the toilet paper himself.

Discussions.

The Stereotypes of Middle School.
              I think this book offers a great chance for students to dwelve into some of the hardships they face as new middle-schoolers. We could talk about the different cliques of middle school and if they ever feel left out of these. Also, we could talk about the pressure they feel to fit into their peers, even if they think they are "morons" like Greg does.

Development of Their Own Identity.
             Throughout the whole novel we see Greg trying to make decisions base upon who he wants to become. He is trying to decide who to be friends with and whether or not being smart is as good as being popular. It would be interesting to discuss what real middle school students think is the most important aspect of their identity.

Age.

I think this text would be perfect for sixth graders since they are facing the hardship of adjusting from elementary school to middle school. As mentioned in the above discussion topics, this text represents a great way to address many different aspects of middle school. Sixth graders would hopefully be able to read this without getting bored because it has so many pictures which could help them form ideas about the text.

Citation.

Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. New York: Amulet Books.