Diary of a Contemporary Realistic Fiction Book

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

By Jeff Kinney

Contemporary Realistic Fiction Book Blog

Illustrated by Jeff Kinney

Published by Amulet Books (October 2012)
Text and illustrations copyright by Amulet Books, Jeff Kinney

226 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Comedy, Children's Book

Author Jeff Kinney's relatable, humorous "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" depicts a quirky story of a kid who just can't seem to have it go his way. Middle school brings lots of challenges that Greg must try to overcome with his brilliant ideas. The story begins with Greg's first day of middle school, a relatable day of embarrassment and struggle. Beginning with this first day, the remainder of the story is characterized by Greg trying his hardest to gain social recognition and survive middle school in one piece. From girl troubles, to friend troubles, to family squables to the infamous cheese touch, this story will have you rolling as you go along this wimpy middle school kid's journey. 

The illustrations in this story are spread throughout the chapters to characterize certain situations Greg encounters. They are created using markers and are characterized by text surrounding the images. By using markers to create the illustrations, Kinney is making the book itself feel like it is an actual copy of Greg's diary. This makes it more relatable to readers and makes the illustrations feel like they were created by a middle schooler with markers. 

Standard:

English Language Arts

Grade: 5th

2 ) Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. [RL.5.2]

I would use this story in an older classroom, either 5th or 6th grade. The students would be asked to read the story, and then we wold discuss the theme of the story and how Greg overcame certain issues within the story. This would also reinforce elements of plot. A fun activity to go along with this story would be to have students create their own diary and record the events that took place in their own lives while reading this book. Then, we could compare our diaries to Greg and see how we all overcame certain issues within life.