![]() 17 Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories.16 Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure.13.1 Family Frolic: Throw An Epic Yard Sale!.12.2 The following books below are ones that Greg read for The Battle of Surrey Street.9.4 The following books below are books that Rodrick had to read for his book reports.5.6 Taking Care of Gregory & Rodrick A to Z.5.3 What the Heck Just Happened to My Body?.5.2 I Used to Be Friends with Greg Heffley.All things considered, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is one of the last books I’d ever give my child to read. There is also extensive potty humor, lots of bullying at the school, a scene where the angry dad throws objects at Greg, and really resentful sibling relationships. This is supposed to be hilarious it’s most certainly not what I want my 8-12 year old laughing about. ![]() One that really bothered me was a scenario where Greg’s older brother left a bikini pictures magazine laying out and Greg’s littler brother took it to show and tell. There are miscellaneous other problematic areas of the book. At this point, I was asking, really, Jeff Kinney? That’s the best redemptive moment you can come up with? But here’s the problem: the kind act is telling a lie to get Rowley out of an embarrassing predicament. The ending of the book is supposed to provide a shade of redemption in one area of Greg’s life at least: he finally does something kind for Rowley. Greg’s teachers are also sometimes taken in by his lies. He tricks Rowley’s parents by sneaking in video games they have expressly forbidden in their home. He repeatedly gets around video game grounding by sneaking off to game at his friend Rowley’s house. Unfortunately, in this story the adults are rather dumb and easily tricked. He considers them dumb and easily tricked. Greg has a abysmal view of adults in general. This is the great friendship in the book, and I actually found it truly sad to read. On one occasion, he convinces Rowley to ride a big wheel down a hill repeatedly while Greg throws a football at his head to try to knock him off. He makes fun of Rowley’s simpler tastes in video games and humor. He beats up Rowley using all the same moves his own brother used to beat him up. Greg has a rather sweet, slightly immature best friend, Rowley, whom he manipulates and bullies. When Christmas comes, he sulks about not getting the particularly violent video game he wants and is ungrateful for all his other presents. The more violent the game, the cooler for Greg. He describes car-racing as too babyish, and resents his friend’s contentment with such boring games. Greg lives for his video games, and he prefers violent ones. On another occasion, Greg deceives his friend’s parents by sneaking in a forbidden violent video game in the case of an educational one. Then he soaks himself in a sprinkler so it looks like he’s been running around working up a sweat, thereby deceiving his dad. For example, when his dad tells him to go play outside, Greg goes to a friend’s house and plays video games. He’s not just any liar: he’s a skilled, sneaky one. He lies to his parents, his teachers, his friends, and his peers. I’ll break that down with details for you. The basic problem is that the protagonist, Greg Heffley, is a lying video game addict who manipulates his friends, disrespects his parents, and doesn’t show personal growth to speak of in the story. I read it for the first time the other day in a little over an hour it is more comic book than novel so it’s a very quick read. I see librarians and book clubs frequently recommending it as the perfect book to interest reluctant readers. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is extremely popular with the 8-12 year old crowd.
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