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January 20, 2009 by Travis Jonker

Book Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid – The Last Straw

January 20, 2009 by Travis Jonker   9 comments

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
by Jeff Kinney
Amulet Books
ISBN: 9780810970687
$12.95
Grades 4-8
In Stores

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*Best New Books*

For me, interrupting my to-be-read pile to peruse the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid installment is like stopping off for a sausage McMuffin on my way to a Monkey Ball tournament (current world ranking: #22) – the trip is fun, but the McMuffin is a rare treat.

It’s January and Frank Heffley is not pleased with his son, Greg. The middle child of the Heffley clan, Greg’s self-centered (and often odd) behavior is beginning to make his dad wonder if drastic action needs to be taken. Namely, a summer at Spag Military Union. At school, Greg is busy building up his courage to talk to his crush Holly Hills. Along the way, he tries out for the soccer team, attends his first real school dance, and solves the mystery of the missing lunch snacks. As is the norm, nothing goes as planned and Greg usually ends up in the most embarrassing light possible (see cover).

The overarching storyline often takes a back seat to the day-to-day situations that Greg finds himself in. One involving the author photo of Shel Silverstein struck me as hilarious (although this might not be the case for young readers). Two of Greg’s writing projects, a “children’s story” and a school report on chimps also had me laughing out loud. But really, just about every page contains a punchline or two that are almost always successful.

Much has been made of the popularity of this series. Working in a school library, I can attest to that. The first two installments (Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules) simply do not appear on my shelves. Checked out, checked in, placed on the “hold” cart for the next person on the waiting list, repeat. Young readers have been anxiously awaiting The Last Straw. There are reasons for this:

1. The character of Greg Heffley is imperfect in ways that speak to youngsters.

2. The friendships and family dynamics are presented with a skewed realism that is close to real life, but taken to extremes.

3. Presented as Greg’s journal, the strong voice and liberal use of illustrations are hard to put down.

4. The results are laugh out loud funny.

A pleasure through and through, The Last Straw will not let down the Wimpy Kid faithful.

Visit the Diary of a Wimpy Kid website.

Also reviewed by BooksForKidsBlog.

Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.

Filed under: *Best New Books*, Reviews

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Deanna H says

    January 20, 2009 at 4:38 pm

    I enjoyed this book. I have to say that I didn’t think it was packed funny like the first one, but I really liked it. I was cracking up so hard about the Shel Silverstein part. That is just too funny!

  2. Learning Disabilities says

    January 22, 2009 at 11:03 am

    A great book. The information presented by you is excellent.

    Thanks for posting
    Lucy

  3. Rose Hoger says

    January 24, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    Yes, these books are so popular with my students. Reluctant readers especially are hooked! Well done to Jeff Kinney for creating such an admired character 🙂

  4. sammyg says

    October 13, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    this is the second book and i thought it was GREAT!

  5. simz says

    May 8, 2010 at 8:51 am

    i love da bokkszz read all of dem !! 🙂

  6. Diary of a wimpy kid says

    November 27, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    I got this web site from my pal who told me on the topic of this site and at the moment this time
    I am visiting this site and reading very informative articles
    here.

  7. ?????????? says

    January 9, 2016 at 1:36 pm

    I don’t even understand how I ended up here, but I thought this post used to be great.

    I do not understand who you are but definitely you’re going to
    a well-known blogger if you happen to are not already.
    Cheers!

Trackbacks

  1. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw” Keeps Getting Great Reviews. « WimpyCool Blog says:
    February 1, 2009 at 2:43 am

    […] One of the most recent is (here). […]

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