Monday, September 14, 2009
Diary of a phenomenon
It is amazing how popular the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has become with tween readers. The books are well designed for that age group and the illustrations are playful and have a powerful draw on reluctant readers, but there is something about Greg Heffley that is almost universally relatable. Many protagonists of tween literature are presented as model students and examples for them to follow, but Greg is not. Instead he is almost painfully average and kind of mediocre. He doesn't always make good decisions and there aren't always consequences for his negative actions. In short, he is normal! If those character traits are combined with the typeface that looks like handwriting and the embellished stick figure illustrations, it makes for a tween reading sensation that spans into teen and younger child age groups. I can't wait for the newest one to come out next month!
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Lots of good points here, especially about how Greg is almost an Everyman for so many young readers. I wouldn't necessarily call him painfully average--because he's definitely not that. He's just real. And you're right--he's not necessarily the kind of role model types that you usually see in tween books, but I think you might find some tweens who actually would find him a role model. He's basically a nice guy who's managed to find his own niche--or he's looking for one and that's almost become his niche. And so many other kids his age (and adults!) are in that same place.
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