Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Author & Illustrator: Jeff Kinney
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10-13 years
SUMMARY
Greg Heffley keeps a journal of his experiences during one year of middle school. Through Greg's voice and cartoon drawings, we get a glimpse of the drama and traumas of middle school life. He has to learn how to deal with many things from having a best friend who isn't very cool to having parents who he thinks are a bit too strict. In his quest for a place to fit in, Greg tries running for Treasurer, he tries out for the school play, he tries being a safety patrol, and he tries for the cartoonist job in the school paper. Greg experiences the humiliations of a wrestling unit in gym class as well as being picked on by high school students.
CRITIQUE
The bottom line is that I would NOT want my child to read this book. There is far better literature available. If you are looking specifically for a story about a boy who often gets into scrapes, I would recommend Henry Huggins
by Beverly Cleary. He is not "perfect" but at least he is a well-intentioned and honorable character. RATINGS
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude: Heavy
Frightening/Suspenseful: None
Profanity: Mild
Sex: Mild
Substance Use: Mild
Mature Themes: None
Violence: Moderate
SPECIFIC CONTENT
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude:
-Greg's advice is to "set people's expectations real low so you end up surprising them by practically doing nothing at all."
-Pulls pranks on his best friend, Rowley.
-General, and constant, complaining about his parents and their style of parenting.
-Deceives his father by running through the sprinkler to make himself look sweaty when, in reality, he has been playing video games at his friend's house.
-Sneaks downstairs at night to listen to music that is forbidden.
-Greg kicks over his younger brother's toys while he is playing with them.
-Tricks Rowley's father into letting them play a video game by switching the case.
-Makes campaign posters disrespecting his opponent.
-Refuses to sing during school play. Throws apples at girl instead.
-Forces younger brother to eat a pretend spider.
-Writes a form letter for his thank-you notes.
-Greg makes fun of Rowley's father.
-Kicks over his younger brother's snowman.
-Hides some other kids' comics under a pile of papers on the teacher's desk so they won't be considered for the cartoonist job.
-Greg chases kindergartners (for whom he is responsible) with a worm. Lets Rowley take the blame. Tells his mom he did the right thing and lets her take him out for ice cream as a reward.
-Acts nicely toward Rowley just so that he will be invited to Six Flags.
Profanity:
-Jerk, sissy, stupid, morons, nerd, dumb, runt, dork, poop, idiot, and fart are some of the words used.
-Boys in independent study make a list of all the swear words they know, but you don't see them.
-Greg listens to his older brother's music that is labeled with a parent advisory for language. Again, you don't hear any of it.
Sex:
-Roderick has a magazine that shows a girl in a bikini draped over the hood of a car. Roderick gets in trouble when his younger brother, Manny, takes it to day care for show and tell.
Substance Use:
-The school has an anti-smoking poster contest. The boy who wins, according to Greg, smokes at least one pack of cigarettes every day.
Violence:
-Kids are shown being bullied (e.g. punched, tripped, shoved, kicked) at school.
-Greg hits Rowley in the face as a joke.
-Boys practice professional wrestling moves on each other at school.
-Boys throw apples at a girl and knock her glasses off during a school play.
-Greg breaks Rowley's hand playing a dangerous game.
-Comic shows skater boy having head sliced off by telephone wire.
-Kids throw snowballs at each other.
-High school boys force Rowley to eat something disgusting off the playground.
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude:
-Greg's advice is to "set people's expectations real low so you end up surprising them by practically doing nothing at all."
-Pulls pranks on his best friend, Rowley.
-General, and constant, complaining about his parents and their style of parenting.
-Deceives his father by running through the sprinkler to make himself look sweaty when, in reality, he has been playing video games at his friend's house.
-Sneaks downstairs at night to listen to music that is forbidden.
-Greg kicks over his younger brother's toys while he is playing with them.
-Tricks Rowley's father into letting them play a video game by switching the case.
-Makes campaign posters disrespecting his opponent.
-Refuses to sing during school play. Throws apples at girl instead.
-Forces younger brother to eat a pretend spider.
-Writes a form letter for his thank-you notes.
-Greg makes fun of Rowley's father.
-Kicks over his younger brother's snowman.
-Hides some other kids' comics under a pile of papers on the teacher's desk so they won't be considered for the cartoonist job.
-Greg chases kindergartners (for whom he is responsible) with a worm. Lets Rowley take the blame. Tells his mom he did the right thing and lets her take him out for ice cream as a reward.
-Acts nicely toward Rowley just so that he will be invited to Six Flags.
Profanity:
-Jerk, sissy, stupid, morons, nerd, dumb, runt, dork, poop, idiot, and fart are some of the words used.
-Boys in independent study make a list of all the swear words they know, but you don't see them.
-Greg listens to his older brother's music that is labeled with a parent advisory for language. Again, you don't hear any of it.
Sex:
-Roderick has a magazine that shows a girl in a bikini draped over the hood of a car. Roderick gets in trouble when his younger brother, Manny, takes it to day care for show and tell.
Substance Use:
-The school has an anti-smoking poster contest. The boy who wins, according to Greg, smokes at least one pack of cigarettes every day.
Violence:
-Kids are shown being bullied (e.g. punched, tripped, shoved, kicked) at school.
-Greg hits Rowley in the face as a joke.
-Boys practice professional wrestling moves on each other at school.
-Boys throw apples at a girl and knock her glasses off during a school play.
-Greg breaks Rowley's hand playing a dangerous game.
-Comic shows skater boy having head sliced off by telephone wire.
-Kids throw snowballs at each other.
-High school boys force Rowley to eat something disgusting off the playground.
