Dialann Duradain: Rodrick Abu 2016

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules by Jeff Kinney is the sequel to the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It is a fictional book written in the form of a diary from Greg Heffley's point of view. Greg is a middle school student who is facing all of the typical problems and issues that come with being

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an adolescent. He is the middle child and has both an older and younger brother.

Through Greg's diary entries, we are told the story of all of the awful things that his big brother Roderick does to him. For instance, one night when the power goes out and Greg is trying to write a history paper, Roderick tricks him into buying one of his old papers that he said he used for the same class. Greg doesn't look at the paper until he is on the way to school the next day, and he finds that Roderick got an F on the paper. Not only did he give up a lot of his money, but Greg says he'll probably fail history. He also has his little brother Manny pestering him from time to time, also. Manny tells his mom everything Greg does. For example, when Greg's friend Rowley came over to stay the night, Greg put a weight under a pillow because he knew Rowley was going to kick it. When he kicked it, he broke his toe. Manny told their mom the whole thing, and Greg had to apologize to Rowley and his parents. In addition to his bothersome brothers, Greg is in a constant struggle to fit in at school. Like most adolescents, he is worried about what others think of him and tries to be popular. He writes about everything that is happening to him in this "diary."

I thought this was a great book. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. It was very humorous, and I think if I find it amusing than adolescents will, also. The pictures in the book were great. They sometimes over-dramatized the situation, which made it even funnier to me. This book raises the issue of the everyday struggles that adolescents are faced with. Everything that Greg went through in the story, most people can relate to. A lot of people have those siblings that they just can't stand, or they have those embarrassing moments at school that make them want to crawl in a hole and never come out. However, at the end of the day, we realize these things only last for a moment, and tomorrow is a new day. I think this is a great issue for the author to raise because it puts the situations that seem so awful into a humorous perspective. This book reminds me of a book called Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. The main character is faced with problem after problem, and he also has an annoying older brother named Fudge. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules could possibly be related to bullying or fighting because Greg is bullied by his older brother a lot, and they often argue. It would be important what behaviors are acceptable when it comes to this. I believe we need to teach our students to be kind to everyone, no matter who it is.

- One idea I have for this book is for students to pick an embarrassing moment that they have had and relate it to something that has happened to Greg. They can write a few paragraphs describing the event and comparing it to Greg's. They could also illustrate it in a similar way that Greg did. I think will help them with their writing skills, but also help with the social aspect of overcoming those embarrassing moments.
- Another thing that you can do with students is give them a passage from the book that involves one of the troublesome situations Greg was in. Allow the students to talk in groups about how they would have handled the situation differently. For instance, when Roderick tells Greg he can't tell his parents about the party he threw or he will bring Greg down with him, what would they do.

This book would be great to have in your classroom because students can easily relate to it, and it's very entertaining. It deals with the issues that they are facing, but in a lighthearted way. Many students are facing peer pressure and the want to fit in, and this book helps readers cope with these issues. I think students will enjoy both the pictures and the text, so it would be a great addition to any classroom.

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