Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

by Jeff Kinney 

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Book Length: 224 pages

Genre: Children's Chapter, Humor

I have known about Diary of a Wimpy Kid long before I ever picked up the book. It replaced Harry Potter as the book to get kids to read. My own kids love them. Even my youngest who can't focus to read tore through the series. Kinney seemed to find a magic formula when writing this book. Maybe a magic formula that is only understood by kids. I didn't find this book all that great. 

I will start off with what I did appreciate about the book. There were a lot more words than I had thought. I had thought it was more of a graphic novel, which my kids love, and less word narrative. Instead, I would describe it as word narrative that uses pictures to be less daunting. The font of the book is very pleasing to children with more attention issues. The plot is extremely relevant. 

That being said Greg, the main sixth grader, is an extremely unpleasant character. Yes, he is trying to fit into a new middle school but the kid is mean to his own friends. There is more grown in the side characters than in the main character. Then at the end of the book when he should be taking some responsibility he doesn't. He makes one nice gesture, is not all that gracious about even making that gesture, and then blames his friend for being gone so long - when he was a jerk to him. 

It isn't a bad book. I do not regret letting my children read them. I do not think it taught anything bad. It was just unpleasant reading it for myself.

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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Book Length: 377 pages

Genre: Children's Chapter, Mythology, Middle school, Urban Fantasy

Percy Jackson is a sixth grader in a boarding school for troubled kids. He seems to be the most troubled of the troubled kids. Yet, like every child fantasizes, he is not really troubled he is special. He is a half god - and not just any god, he is the son of Psydon god of the ocean.

The book is a tale about Percy Jackson finding himself and world for him to belong to. He does this in true mythological fashion by completing a quest that will save the world.

The story is a fun read. I think the success of the series shows that it will connect with a lot of kids. However, I have two gripes with the book. My first is the flippant use of ADHD and Dyslexia. I get that Percy has these diagnoses because Riordan's own son was diagnosed with them. I get the appeal of having a child with ADHD featured in the book. Except that Percy didn't really have ADHD or Dyslexia. He was a half-god with heightened battle skills and a brain attuned to reading ancient Greek. The book discounts these diagnosis and then continues to throw the terms around almost as an excuse. As a parent of children who have their own diagnosis (including ADHD) it is great to see characters they can relate to. Yet having my own diagnosis it irked me the way that it was presented in the book.

My second gripe is that there are three twelve-year-old kids running around the country and no one really thought this was odd. I mean they bought their own train tickets and no one questioned it. The only people in the novel who questioned them wondering around were monsters. I find this a bit unrealistic. Maybe I am just too old.

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The North Water by Ian McGuire

The North Water

by Ian McGuire

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Book Length: 270 pages

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

All I knew about this book before I picked it up was that it had good reviews and it was suppose to be dark. 

The book opens by introducing us to Henry Drax who is most likely a psychopath. He follows base instincts to know when to eat, sleep, have sex, get drunk, and to kill. Henry Drax represents everything that is vial about human nature. Yet, this is not really his story. 

The novel follows Sumner, an army surgeon that was dishonourably discharged while serving in India. Unable to find work Sumner agrees to be a doctor on a whaling ship. To add to his misfortune Henry Drax is also employed on the ship. 

The novel is dark but not graphic. Ian McGuire does a great job describing the characters and the world. He pays extra special attention to the olfaction sensory experience. I do not think I have ever pictured smell so vividly from reading a book. Yet, due to Sumner acting as narrator, the book portrays the potential cruelty of human nature without being so graphic that it was completely unreadable. Instead what is shown is a struggle to overcome base human nature to transform into a better human being. 

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