Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This post is dedicated to the hilarious novel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney (who was recently voted one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people). All school year long I had seen students (mostly boys) with this book. I had wanted to read it, but just hadn't gotten around to it. As a thank you present, a student gave me a copy of the book telling me, "I LOVE this book," so I knew it had to be one of the first books I read this summer. I'm sure glad I did. It was hilarious.

The novel tells the story of Greg Heffley's first year in middle school. The book is written in a fun font that makes it look like an actual diary. It also has drawings littered throughout it. In fact, the book is advertised as "a novel in cartoons." Kinney perfectly captures life as a middle school boy as Greg deals with his annoying brothers, bullies at school, and problems with teachers, family, and friends.

I highly recommend it for anyone who is currently a middle school student, has worked in a middle school, has children in a middle school, or was once themselves a child in middle school.

American Born Chinese

I just finished reading American Born Chinese, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. Although I had never read a graphic novel (nor was I planning on doing so), I had to because it was assigned in my adolescent literature class. The novel contains three different stories that cleverly weave together in the end. It contained a lot of humor and had an important message about accepting who you are and overcoming the desire to fit in. I highly recommend it!!

To read more about American Born Chinese or Yang's other books, click HERE.

One of my favorite pages.