Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Kinney, Jeff. 2008. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. New York: Amulet.

This follow-up to the best-selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid is hilarious! Jeff Kinney absolutely channels the mind of a middle-school boy. (For the mom, I think he may be channeling me!)
It's hard to say what's funnier - the text or the sketches.

Imagine the scene at Greg's friend Rowley's house as the boys try out their new secret language during dinner, the sketch shows Greg and Rowley giggling at the dinner table with a thoroughly angry Rowley's dad. The thought bubbles read:

YOUR-PA DAD-PA SMELLS-PA LIKE-PA A WOMAN-PA! HEE HEE HEE!

followed by:

"But Rowley's dad must have cracked our code, because I ended up getting sent home before dessert. And I haven't been invited to spend the night at Rowley's ever since."

Rodrick Rules follows Greg through his home and school adventures, but the underlying theme of this installment in Greg Heffley's adventures is brotherly love. Greg's older brother, Rodrick, may not be a gem, but he's family - and that's what really matters.

This book is laugh-out-loud funny.