In the early 2000s, kid lit was awash with overachievers, from Harry Potter to Percy Jackson. And then there was Greg Heffley. The socially inept protagonist of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons torments a group of kindergarteners, lets hapless BFF Rowley take the fall for his own misdeeds, and endures a string of humiliations at the hands of bullies—all to the delight of young readers. Wimpy Kid has spawned a bestselling series, a spinoff series for Rowley, a musical, and no less than seven films.
Wimpy Kid relies on a winning blend of prose and cartoons that look as though they were ripped straight from the sketchbook of an actual middle schooler—a format that’s proven especially popular with reluctant readers. Kinney has referred to his long-suffering leading man as a sort of Larry David for tweens; Greg has a knack for saying the wrong thing, as well as a gift for chronicling his misadventures with a mix of self-deprecating humor and utter disdain for his peers.
While adults have pointed out that Greg’s no role model—sociopath is one label that’s been tossed at him online in recent years—it’s his foibles that have endeared him to millions of readers. As a young fan told the New York Times, “Everything in it is completely true—the way the parents reacted to things, the dumb things we do, all the annoying things you have to do with younger brothers.” Grown-ups might wish for a less naughty hero, but for kids, Greg Heffley still reigns supreme.
Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.
