As you get
older, do you ever reflect on what elementary, middle, or high school were
like? I reflect on my old school days all the time, especially now that I am
going into teaching. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, brought back memories
of when I was in middle school, and not all of them were that great. Okay, the truth is that I have been trying to forget about my memories of middle school (not my fondest memories).
In the
book Greg Heffley wanted to be popular, so he thought that if he wrote in his
“journal” (his mom bought him a diary) about his life in middle school, he
could be famous. Don’t we all want to be popular or famous when we are young (oh how life changes). I remember just wanting to get through middle school
without any trouble. Greg thought that being popular was the best way to get all the girls. Greg also thought that being the best at wrestling would make him popular. The problem Greg with that idea is that he did not have any muscle. At least he was participating in activities at school.
Greg has two
brothers and a best friend that sometimes embarrass him. Such a
typical life situation. I think siblings were made to embarrass each other, I
know I can come up with a thousand stories of my brother embarrassing me. The thing that I noticed was that Greg was the one people should have been embarrassed of because he had not filter when he said or did things. Greg did not think before he acted, and I think most people can relate to that.
As someone who
has been through middle school, I can make a connection to the book. But
elementary students have not been to middle school, so how would they know
middle school is a stupid idea? Elementary students can relate to a friend or
siblings embarrassing them because it happens to the best of us. When you can
relate to a book, I think it makes it more personal and fun. I can see this
book being something students love and get a kick out of it. But there is one think that should be at the beginning of the book, and that would be a warning for parents or teachers when they have a student or child reading this book. Why should there be a warning you may ask, well I can see students trying some of the same things Greg did, like throw a football at people or finding food on the play ground and play "cheese finger". I would defiantly let my students read this book because it just makes you smile.
