Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days

Jeff Kinney

Early in this hilarious what-I-did-on-my-summer-vacation account, Greg Heffley cynically records his clueless mother’s promise that despite tight budgets, it would still be “the best summer ever.” Boy, was she wrong! Instead, the summer brings a long list of miseries: the anxiety-provoking shower at the public pool, a falling-out between Greg and his best friend, and, worst of all, “family togetherness.” Now and then, Greg stumbles across some good times, but they involve things that many middle-school guys would never admit enjoying, such as tabloids, beauty parlors, and soap operas. Kinney weaves in some real-life ironies: Greg, star of one of the best-selling kids’ book series in publication, declares, “Anything that doesn’t involve reading sounds pretty good to me”; he is bummed that he is not yet a reality-TV star (a real-life blockbuster movie is in the works); and he unsuccessfully attempts to become a cartoonist, which is how Kinney got his start.