Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Diary of a Wimpy Kid:
Dog Days
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Amulet Books
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8391-5

This was the fourth book in the series, and the third overall to get a movie transformation, of which I still have yet to see. As the title suggests, the book does not take place during an actual school year, but instead during summer vacation. 

The book follows Greg Heffley, his family, and friends, as they have different experiences. Mrs. Heffley feels that it is the perfect time for family-togetherness, while, quite frankly, everyone else would rather be off doing their own activities, except Greg's younger brother, Manny, who is mostly just "along for the ride."

Different activities unfold in this novel, all at varying degrees of "success" or "failure," depending on the perspective of the character the reader is focusing on. One of the early experiences is where Mrs. Heffley takes the family to a water park that she took Greg to when he was Manny's age. This does not exactly lift everyone's spirits, because everyone else sees the park as "immature." 

Another crazy antic unfolds when Greg and Rowley Jefferson try to take advantage of  Mr. Jefferson's country club membership, and run up a sky-high "bar tab" by ordering expensive non-alcoholic drinks and taking advantage of the club's other amenities. This eventually gets them thrown out, and the friend duo must start a summer job to pay back the amount owed on the tab to Rowley's father. Greg's idea to remedy this is to start a lawn care service, with him as the corporate big-wig, and Rowley as the lowly employee, even though Greg claims that both of them have "equal partnership" in the business venture. This plan, of course, fails and Greg ends up borrowing a lawn mower from a relative, and doing all of the work himself.

Summer vacation also means that Greg continues to work on his love life. He decides to pursue the older sister of a girl in his grade, who is working as a lifeguard down at the local swimming pool. His advances fail, of course, and despite being devastated, he doesn't stop trying. 

All in all, I would definitely say that I would read this book again. Since it is the third book to get a movie adaptation, as I probably stated in the beginning, I will probably watch it at some point, either on Amazon or from the Parker Library.