Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Amulet Books
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9313-6

This novel was an good one. It was funny, interesting, and empathetic. I started and finished it today, all in one afternoon. The format was also nice and easy to pick up. It was mostly a novel, but not in the traditional sense of the word. The book was written in the style of somebody's notebook, so in that respect, it was another book that read like somebody's English paper. 

The illustrations in the book were also a nice touch, and also reminded me of some of the scenes in the Harry Potter movie series where there are notes being passed and animations can be seen on some of those said notes. 

The interesting thing about this book is that it did not have a Table of Contents, which, now that I think about it, makes sense, since it is supposed to be modeled to look like somebody's journal. While a Table of Contents would help with the reviewing of this book, considering the style that the book is written in, I'm actually glad that it does not have this feature, because it would  most likely detract from the overall look and feel of the book itself. 

Theoretically, the book is supposed to take place in Middle School, however, the book makes references to things like "recess," albeit sometimes in past tense. This makes the setting a little confusing, but not to the point where it detracts from being entertaining. It even goes through the entire school year, including student body elections, yearbook nominations, and other events, which is a very nice touch.

Probably my favorite parts of the book were the references to the student newspaper. While I never had this type of position during my years as a K-12 student, the narrative was still entertaining. The comics that were created in this chapter also were funny, and were also really nicely designed, even though they're supposed to look immature, which added to the overall theme of the book quite nicely.

Would I read this book again? Heck yes. In fact, the next time I get a chance to go the Parker Library, I will probably look and see if they have some of the other novels in the series available. Not only was it entertaining, but it was also simple enough to understand that I was able to finish the entire book in one day. It is definitely worth picking up if you haven't already done so.