Amulet

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

mandy — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:00:00 +0000

My ten-year-old son, Elliott, has several distinct laughs in his repertoire, each precisely tuned to the subtleties of the situation. An under-the-breath snicker connotes mild amusement, like the punchline to a Laffy Taffy joke; a nasal, high-pitched giggle is a response to inspired silliness, like a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip; a deep, hiccuping guffaw from his lower belly signifies his highest level of appreciation, and is usually reserved for gags involving bodily functions. I heard all three laughs, and a few new ones, in the sixty minutes it took him to devour Jeff Kinney's The Ugly Truth, the fifth installment in his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Elliott's speed in this case is due not only to his considerable reading talent but the fact that the book is half-text, half-cartoon. The latter are rendered in the kind of primitive stickfigures that one would expect in the diary of a less-than-macho middle-schooler like Greg Heffley, the series' titular hero. Though I enjoyed the book, it took me considerably longer to read, as the Wimpy Kid phenomenon is not one that holds great appeal for Gen X moms who were once uptight English majors. Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, yes—Twilight and Wimpy Kid, not so much. I spent the first third of the book trying to decipher which stickfigure was Greg, his older brother Rodrick, or his former best friend Rowley, and whether any of this information was actually pertinent to the book's thin plot, concerning Greg's struggle to accept the inevitability of growing up.

Author and artist Kinney nails many of the particular agonies of preteendom, especially the realization that the cute years are over. “When you're a little kid, nobody even warns you that you've got an expiration date,” he notes. “One day you're hot stuff and the next day you're a dirt sandwich.” Greg's mom doesn't help things when she gives him a book titled “What the Heck Just Happened to My Body?” Unfortunately for Greg, nothing has happened—even nerdy Rowley has had his first pimple. Eventually, his parents break the news that both were late bloomers. “That was REALLY bad news,” Greg says. “In this country they're always saying you can grow up and be anything you want, but now I realize that's not true.” Spoken like the original wimpy kid, that prep school dropout Holden Caulfield.

I asked my own decidedly prepubescent kid what he thought of the book. What follows is the complete transcript of our discussion.

Mom: I'm writing my review of new Wimpy Kid book. Can you tell me what you thought of it?
Elliott: It was really good.
(long pause)
Mom: Anything else?
Elliott: It was really funny.
Mom: What parts did you like the best?
Elliott: Well, duh. The funny parts.
Mom: Can you be more specific?

At this point he grabbed the book, curled up on the couch, and his cycles of laughter resumed. His endorsement was clear.

Written by: Shannon Drury, January 24th 2011

The Girls

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:32:00 +0000

By Tucker Shaw

Amulet

The Girls is a modern chick lit version of The Women by Clare Boothe Luce. This book, like that classic play, is made especially interesting because boys are talked about, but not featured as active characters! In this modern version, girl-next-door Peggy enrolls at an upper-crust Aspen prep school and finds herself way out of her league. She is intimidated by the seeming perfection of her roommate Mary, who is beautiful, popular, and the girlfriend of a wealthy hotelier's son. She is intimidated by Sylvia, the constantly color-coordinated, gossip-saavy diva of the school. And she is intimidated by the town of Aspen, which is filled with overpriced lattes and celebrity sightings.

Peggy finds herself in a moral dilemma when she overhears Amber, the local coffee shop’s barista, claiming that Mary’s boyfriend Stephen is cheating on her with a local salesgirl. Should Peggy tell Mary and hurt her feelings and possibly her relationship over what could be gossip? Or should she stay silent and possibly betray her friend? The choice is made no easier by the fact that Sylvia has also overheard, and could potentially relay the news to Mary before Peggy does, possibly usurping the roommate’s friendship.

As Peggy wrestles with the decision, she goes to the shop to see the salesgirl in question and overhears some incriminating evidence. When Mary must confront the crisis, unfortunately Sylvia has joined Peggy as her support system. However, we see a more vulnerable Sylvia as she begins to share in the girls’ weekly grilled cheese confidences. And soon the girls team up to confront cheating boyfriends. As The Girls ends, various characters pop up, seemingly out of nowhere, and join the drama, hurling accusations at one another’s boyfriends. The plot dissolves into a series of catfights, which are fun but shallow. Luckily, the book is made interesting by its setting, Colorado (refreshing to see snobbery outside of NY/LA!) and by the prominent role which food plays in the narrative. It is supremely refreshing to see a young female narrator (Peggy) who sees food as neither an enemy nor a savior, but rather a creative medium. Throughout the book, Peggy deals with stress by zoning out and creating elaborate and fanciful recipes in her mind. A responsible young woman who provides a centered view of the dramatized girly events around her, the narrator is skillful and inventive at her job as a chef’s assistant in a hip Aspen restaurant. She clearly has talent, passion, and creativity. As a plus, Tucker Shaw, himself a food journalist, includes some of the yummy recipes at the back of the book!

Written by: Elizabeth F.A. Meaney, July 25th 2009

Privacy, Please!: Gaining Independence From Your Parents

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:19:00 +0000

By Odile Amblard

Amulet

Privacy, Please! is a very entertaining and informative book written for teens, but I think parents will find Odile Amblard’s advice just as useful. This 112-page book is written in the second person, which makes it feel very personal. The lighthearted style makes the sometimes serious subjects—such as alcohol and drugs—less daunting. From high school to college, Amblard covers education, curfews, money, friends, and, of course, freedom.

The illustrations done by Celine Guyot are full of color, and while done in the style of a picture book for children much younger than the emerging young adults this book aims to reach, I find they fit well with the author’s own style and enhance the book.

As my time as a teenager comes to an end, I find I’m a late bloomer as my relationship with my parents is only now becoming tumultuous. Privacy, Please! seems to have come to me at just the right time, and I’ve started to look at my folks in a different light. As I turn eighteen, I can say I’ve read a good number of teen self-help books, and while they have all given me some good insight I have used wisely, or intend to use in the future, none have actually made me laugh (which is a difficult feat). None of them have made me feel as if I’m the one being hard on my parents and not the other way around.

While this book has been marketed as a teen self-help book, I see it has potential to be a parents’ self-help book as well. Parents can see their relationship with their child from the teen’s eyes, as they are basically faced with their teenage selves once again—but this time, from the frightening place called parenthood. I think while everything in this book has value, the real meaning needs to be found by the reader because every teen and every family is different. In my case, I found Amblard stressed balance in relationships. She constantly impresses the importance of communication, for teens and parents to keep some form of open dialogue while also knowing when to give the space needed to grow.

Written by: Nina Lopez-Ortiz, June 12th 2009