Clumsy and impulsive, ten-year-old Logan is determined to have a better year in fifth grade than in the past but is hindered by an increasingly forgetful grandfather at home and a vengeful new classmate at school. In the first months of the school year he nearly loses a best friend, wreaks havoc in a pet shop and ruins his school fair, but he also learns to apologize and take responsibility for his actions. He comes to understand, even sympathize with the feelings of others—specifically his grandfather and Emily (the Snot) Scott. From the opening scene of Logan’s nearly naked grandfather caught with their neighbor’s flowers, the story relies heavily on small-boy humor for its laughs. But imaginative, inventive Logan has realistic concerns young readers will find believable. The worthwhile message that there are worse things than being laughed at is explicitly stated, and the plot moves inexorably to its dramatic, if predictable, conclusion. Co-author of the popular Bailey School Kids series, Jones aims for a slightly older audience here and hits her target well. Decker’s final illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-525-42066-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
In a second set of entries—of a planned three, all first published in somewhat different form online in installments—slacker diarist Greg starts a new school year. After a miserable summer of avoiding swim-team practice by hiding out in the bathroom (and having to wrap himself in toilet paper to keep from freezing), he finally passes on the dreaded “cheese touch” (a form of cooties) to an unsuspecting new classmate, then stumbles through another semester of pranks and mishaps. On the domestic front, his ongoing wars with older brother Rodrick, would-be drummer in a would-be metal band called Löded Diper, share center stage with their mother’s generally futile parenting strategies. As before, the text, which is done in a legible hand-lettered–style font, is liberally interspersed with funny line drawings, many of which feature punch lines in speech balloons. Though even less likable that Junie B. Jones, Greg is (well, generally) at least not actively malicious, and so often is he the victim of circumstance or his own schemes gone awry that readers can’t help but feel empathy. This reasonably self-contained installment closes with a truce between the siblings. A temporary one, more than likely. (Illustrated fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9473-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
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