Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007)

'This a journal, not a diary.'

★★★½

Any kid born in the late 90s and early 2000s will remember this book. This is one of the many junior novels that got every kid into reading. In fact, probably the only book they've ever read. I can't imagine how many teachers have told students they couldn't use "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" for their personal book report. Can you blame them though? I wouldn't. It's a fun read.

Jeff Kenny's novel was originally released as an online version on the website, "Funbrain" with Kenny uploading a new page each day. It was recieved with overwelming success, with many readers requesting a printed version. This feedback allowed Kenny to turn it into an official book. The idea originally was aimed for both kids and adults, but Kenny opted for the target audience to be children. That decision was perfect.

The novel is told in comic book like illustrations, all drawn by Jeff Kenny himself. Even if you haven't read the novel, you can recgonize the iconic frown and three pieces of hair sticking out of Greg's hair. Speaking of Greg, his is a protganist of this novel. He has begun his first year of middle school and his goal is try to be the most popular kid in school, eventually dreaming of being rich and famous. Afraid that he wouldn't have time to answer questions from fans, he decided to write everything into a jorunal, so he asked his mother, Susan Heffley to purchase him a journal. However, she ended buying a diary instead of a journal. Her excuse was her not knowing the difference.

Greg lives with his family, which include his mother, Susan Heffley, his father Frank Heffley, his older brother, Rodrick Heffley, and his younger brother, Manny Heffley. All of which, Greg tends to talk about in his diary. Greg also has a best friend named, Rowley Jefferson. To Greg, Rowley is a person who Greg felt sorry for and decided to take him under his wing, even though Rowley was just being his normal, pure self.

As I mentioned earlier, the novel is set during Greg's first year of middle school, from the end of summer to the last day of school. We get to see all the crazy and wacky stuff Greg gets himself into to try and become popular by the end of the year. He tries everything. As examples, he tries joining a play, the Safety Patrol, ties to become the new cartoonist, and many other things. All of those do not work out for them, as the year goes on, more and more is he getting himself into trouble, and his reputation is sinking. While Rowley, on the other hand is getting all the attention. What Greg fails to understand is if choses to be himself, rather than doing things that he doesn't have to do just to impress people, then people might actually like him, but he doesn't want to.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have nostalgia from reading this series, but with this recap, I didn't let nostalgia blind me. As an adult, I appericate this novel more than I did as a kid, maybe because of brilliance it provides. The formula, the humor, the story, and the character are all so well written and this is a funny book, which is why kids love it so much, and even adults, who were kids when these books came out loved them. My favorite characters are Rodrick and Rowley. To me, Rodrick is the only normal person in the family. Sure, he's lazy when it comes to his school work, but other than that, he's do nothing wrong. He does tease Greg, but isn't that what siblings do to each other? With Rowley, he's just a warm, caring, and fun guy to be around. His care-free mood is why everyone wants to be friends with him. He doesn't need Greg in his life. Greg is slowly making him into another Greg. Trust me, no one needs another Greg in this world.

After the success of this novel, Jeff Kenny has built a franchise off this one book. After the release of this book, spawned in many sequels, with a new book being written every year, three live action movies, and a foruth one that everyone likes to forget (I hate it too), animated movies, merchandise, and a dedicated website, even a spin off series that is told from Rowley's perspective. All of that success is what makes "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" one of the most successful and beloved series ever made.