Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is Greg Huffley's non-diary of summer.  Greg, however, does not want to leave the house - he would rather spend all his break inside playing video games.  His mother has other ideas, ones that include visiting the public pool, reading classics, and earning his own money, all of which just might ruin Greg's summer. 

Things I Liked:

These books are always good for a laugh.  It is fun to read about Greg's way of viewing things, since it is so realistic it's hilarious.  There are so many good anecdotes and funny quotes, I hope you will check this one out when you need a good laugh.  I also always get a kick out of the awesome illustrations.  Here's one of my favorite parts:

"The first time I walked through the men's locker room at the town pool was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.  I'm probably lucky I didn't go blind.  Seriously, I don't see why Mom and Dad bother to try and protect me from horror movies and stuff like that if they're gonna expose me to something about a thousand times worse." p7

And I simply couldn't resist this quote:

"I'm not really sure what makes a book a 'classic' to begin with, but I think it has to be at least fifty years old and some person or animal has to die at the end." p37

Things I Didn't Like:

Greg seemed even more like a brat than I remember.  I would hate to have him as a younger brother or a friend (poor Rowley), but perhaps that is just because it is pretty true to life.

Read-alikes:

Read all the other Diary of a Wimpy Kid books
Reminds me of The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman
Also like The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:

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Overall rating: ****

If you buy through my Amazon linkage,
I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Strawcontinues Greg's junior high adventures (see first two book reviews here and here). Dealing with your family is sometimes so stressful! Especially when you are a little too wimpy for your father's taste - he might just send you to military school!

I just love these books! I think they are so funny and also really true-to-life (at least to my life :) I read my way through this short, illustrated book in about an hour and spent that whole time laughing out loud. A perfect pick for a reluctant reader, particularly a boy.

RATINGS:
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Overall rating: ****

Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rulesis the hilarious sequel to Greg Huffley's first foray into diary writing (see review here). In this comic-strip-like diary, Greg tries to maneuver junior high tragedy's and trauma all while dealing with a rotten older brother.

An absolute riot that anyone who remembers junior high (or is trying not to) should pick up for a laugh. The comic style writing makes it a really fast read and your time will not be wasted.

RATINGS:
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(Girls have cooties)

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(Although, older brothers can be rather violent...)

Overall rating: ****

Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kidbegins the drama of Greg Heffley's middle school career. Greg faces the challenges we all did during that awkward time. When his best friend Rowley begins to outshine him, Greg finds ways to use his friend to his advantage. All of the horrible things we imagined and didn't have to imagen during these years seems to happen to Greg.

This book was so much fun! I fell in love with the humor, the drama, the remembrance of how horrible junior high was for me. The cartoon-like illustrations and text make this book a perfect pick for a reluctant reader - or anyone who had a rough middle school career. You can't help but laugh!

RATINGS:
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(unless you count bullying :)

Overall rating: ****