Rating: Not for me

Level: Mid-late Elementary

The first chapter took me so long to read; there were so many concerns that I kept stopping to write down. Yikes.

This should be called, “Diary of a Kid with No Character.”

I didn’t like:

  • Horrible, selfish behaviors and attitudes. He beats up his poor “friend” for fun, uses him to get to video games and other pleasures, let’s his friend wrongly take the punishment for his mistakes, and is a downright bully. It is awful. He sees everything from a selfish perspective too, like “my friend deserves this kind of treatment.” It’s awful.
  • Thinking about others with no value. Everything is about what he can get. There is no concern for others’ feeling or for helping others.
  • No integrity. He tricks little kids into paying him for something that is a dud. He plans to cheat on a test. He is consumed with image and how to get ahead, popularity, etc.
  • Name-calling. Moron, dork, nerds…
  • Lack of respect for parents. Talks about how they are too dumb to dismantle a video game; tricks them into thinking he got sweaty by running through a sprinkler. Thwarts their instructions/rules regarding restricted (parent guidance) media.
  • Poor values regarding school. He tapes his fingers together to cross them and says it gave him a D in handwriting but was totally worth it. Loves missing class. Plans to cheat on a test. Fakes being dumb for a “gifted” reading test. Just no ambition or interest in learning or contributing to society.
  • Lack of respect for women. Mentions of girls as “hot” or not, women in bikinis on cars in magazines, just generally dehumanizes girls
  • Potty/body humor. Fart jokes, a kid named P. Mudd becomes “pee mud,” little kid pooping pants…

Things I like:

  • NOTHING!

Although this book catches a lot of sarcastic and depressingly funny themes of what we all remember it to be like to be an American kid in middle school (admittedly I laughed a few times when I wasn’t wincing), the perspective and attitudes displayed here are exactly what depresses me about the future of our society. No thanks.

We need books that teach kids courage, integrity, and consideration of others. Not this.

A great alternative might be The Terrible Two, a story about two pranksters who have a lot of character.

You may wish to also see the review of this book on ChristianParentReviews.com. It seems they have a similar take, even though we arrived there independently: https://christianparentreviews.com/book-reviews/Diary-of-a-Wimpy-Kid