Jeff Kinney
(Puffin)
Greg is a wimpy kid, he says so himself, who has been encouraged by his mother to write a diary (or rather a journal). We are presented his musings in a very clever format: the type font is similar to very clear handwriting, there are lines to give you the impression this is a notebook and there are plenty of cartoons to illustrate, which despite being child-like are in fact quite detailed.
Greg seems to have many unfortunate adventures but I think this book still portrays well what it is like to be a boy at that awkward age when you are not child anymore but you are not quite a teenager. It’s not high literature, I wasn’t particularly lifted by it but I think it’s a good choice for Booked Up. My able-but-reluctant nephew has loved this book, and it has managed to stir him away from comics (he is a fanatic and reads that only) for a little while at least!
