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...
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid 9 Book Slipcase
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.