Children’s Books: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney

By Ian Buchsbaum, as told to his father Tony

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (Amulet) is the fourth book in the highly successfuly kids’ series; however, it’s the third one your kids can read, since the previous book was a do-it-yourself diary. The series is about a kid named Greg who lives in a world of mischief. Because this is Greg’s diary, the book contains lots of little stories -- and sketches that help to bring those stories to life.

In The Last Straw, Greg spends time trying to impress a girl named Holly. Also, his brother Rodrick does some crazy antics and his little brother Manny makes up a new word (“ploopy”). Trouble is, their mother doesn’t like the word, so Rodrick breaks it up into syllables (“pl,” “oo,” and “py”) and says a different one each day to Greg. Fun! There’s another kid named Shawn, who has a new baby brother.

Greg’s little stories are written in a quick, easy style that’s fun for kids to read. I’m pretty addicted, to tell the truth. The sheer number of little stories throughout the book feels just like every kid’s day -- lots of stuff to do and think about, and lots of fun to have.

I really enjoy the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and lots of my friends do too. Basically that would be everybody in my class. The Last Straw is my favorite one, and it’s so good that I’m bummed that I have to wait for the next one. (Note to Jeff Kinney: Please hurry!)