Spotlight Magazines Spotlight on Sinfin and Stenson Fields Sept 2015 | Page 10

Spotlight Magazine

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney

A Good Read

Of course this month
children all over the
country said goodbye
to the long summer
holiday and trudged
(many of them
reluctantly) back to
the classroom. So
this month we have
a ‘back to school’
theme with the first
book in the smash hit
US book series.
Greg Heffley is finding his way through
the minefield that is middle school. As
he points out at the start of the book this
isn’t really a diary. In his own words there
is none of this ‘dear diary’ rubbish and he
won’t be discussing his ‘feelings’.
It’s a journal, and as a journal it takes us
through the school year from the allimportant decision of where to sit on the
first day of class, to the embarrassment
of playing a tree in the school production
of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (and not even being
able to throw apples at annoying Patty who
is playing Dorothy!).
Along with his best friend, Rowley, he plans
a Hallowe’en haunted house to raise some
money but unfortunately they only manage
one terrified guest before Rowley’s dad
brings it to an end. But as we find out,
that was not quite the end of the matter
and it takes a full school year before the
consequences of Hallowe’en night are fully
realised.
Described as ‘a novel in cartons’ this is
a perfect book for both those who love
reading and those who are ‘reluctant
readers’. Yes, it’s an American book, but
there are no issues with readers relating to
the culture: school is sch