My weekend included too much laundry, a miserably cold and rainy Saturday, not feeling well but actually reading a few easy children’s reads (in between getting seating ready on the front porch finally). Granted, most were not huge hits, but Middle School Misadventures by Jason Platt was not a miss.
This is a typical slacker kid story who gets by with (a lot of) help from his friends. It is a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” like story with more realistic, cartoon images. Also, either I have read this story before, or there are a couple scenes directly stolen from other books.
What I mean was, this book was terribly familiar. Maybe it was because of the main character is a typical middle school kid who has friends, thinks Wednesday is Saturday, has problems with school, “evil” principals, talent shows and girl problems, or I have read it before. But regardless of why it feels familiar, it is a quick read for the adult. The aged aimed at (around 8 to 11 or 12) will want more after their preferred reading speed. And currently there are three in the series.
The Calvin and Hobbes like illustrations set the tone. Everything is off beat, simple, but expressive and overall, goofy. Maybe the antics are a little over the top at times (such as it is funny once for the squirrel to jump out of the box, but a second time?), but it is boy humor 101. Of course, girls can enjoy, too. All the action basically leads up to a talent show performance in less than three days. That deadline works for the story, but in real life it could never really fly for a bunch of middle schoolers (or at least all the ones I knew). You can’t look for reality in these pages, but you can look for a relatable character and their friends. There is a smidgen of adult humor but that is still kid friendly.
Rating a three for kid likability, but a 2.5 for my personal likability.
