I’m
sorry, but how did Jeff Kinney find my middle school journal? Just kidding (or
am I?)
At least one thing is for certain, if
this isn’t my middle school journal, and it’s clearly not, something about the
middle school experience must be universal (and it could just be that this book
was popular while I was in middle school—the kids in my class really got into
copying the “cheese touch” routine). The cover calls the book “a novel in
cartoons”, and I think that’s absolutely perfect. This book is akin to being inside a middle
schooler’s head as he goes about his day. We get little flashes of what’s
happening through the illustrations, but mostly we get fantastic narration of
daily life.
The pictures in this book serve a similar
purpose to the images in Kalman’s. They expand upon the words, and even add
something of their own. While not all of them are necessary to understand what
the author is saying, they certainly do add their own sparkle to the text. The
images in this text strike me as daydream-like—particularly the school
treasurer episode (44-45). The narration pauses for a second as you look at the
picture below, and you can almost see Greg’s eyes glazing over as he imagines
the scenario depicted in the picture. This adds to the universal quality of the
narration. The readers get to daydream along with the narrator. His experiences
become our experiences—particularly if we’ve already had similar ones of our
own. Given that this novel was written for a younger audience, it also serves
as a learning tool so kids can watch Greg’s school year unfold and have a sort
of guide to navigate middle school on their own—or at least know that no matter
what ends up happening (groundings, water-soaked trick-or-treating, running for
student government), they’re going to be okay.
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