Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

This is the sixth instalment of the best-selling ‘Wimpy Kid’ Diaries. The format is the usual one; text ‘handwritten’ on lined paper, interspersed with cartoon drawings that suggest that the author’s age. The plot hinges on Greg’s ability to get into trouble – usually inadvertently – with the humour very much relying on the gulf between adults and children and the expectations and misunderstandings that arise as a result. It is the very everyday nature of the problems facing Greg – bullies, efforts to correct a mistake that go horribly wrong, siblings who inevitably get away with everything – that will attract the young reader who will identify with Greg while, at the same time, feeling superior to him. Greg is after all an 11-year-old wimp. With its undemanding conversational style and anecdotes that draw out the funny side of life, this novel becomes an attractive and easy choice for the younger readers at whom it is aimed. This is an age group that will not be too concerned with the lack of character development, the comedy stereotypes or the absence of any tension in the plot – they are part of the club, privy to Greg’s thoughts and with him facing a world full of adults who just don’t understand.