Niles Public Library District Kids' Corner

If You Like The Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Starring Boys | Starring Girls

Starring Boys

Frindle When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.	Clements, Andrew
The Janitor’s Boy When Jack is caught placing a big fat wad of gum under a desk, he’s sentenced to three weeks of after-school gum cleanup with the chief custodian—who happens to be Jack’s dad! Could anything be worse?	Clements, Andrew
Bud Not Buddy In this Newbery Award winning novel, Bud searches for his father during the Great Depression. He’s an orphan running away from his foster home, and must rely on his "rules and things to have a funner life and make a better liar out of yourself.”	Curtis, Christopher Paul
Everyone Else’s Parents Said Yes Matthew loves to play practical jokes on his older sister and all the girls in his class at school, so by the time of his big birthday party, they have all declared war on him and are determined to get even.	Danziger, Paula
Horace Splattly: The Cupcaked Crusader (series) When his little sister's magic cookies transform him into a flying, fire-breathing superhero, ten-year-old Horace Splattly has lots of adventures, including confronting a monster at the school playground!	David, Lawrence
The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins: A World War II Soldier (Dear America/My Name is America series) In May, 1944, 17-year-old Collins discovers that he will be in the battle of his life, part of the sheer terror and confusion of World War II’s D-Day offensive. Experience the war through Collin’s journal, and the real-life events detailed in the back of the book.
Phineas L. MacGuire…Erupts! (series) Phineas MacGuire, known as "Mac," loves science, and wants to turn in the best science fair project ever. But his plans might be ruined when Mrs. Tuttle assigns a new kid as his partner, and the new kid only wants to do dinosaurs—a totally lame topic.	Dowell, Frances O’Roark
Dork in Disguise It’s Jerry’s big chance! Last year he was a total dork. This year, at a new school, he’s determined to be cool. Everything starts off OK, but before you know it, things take a turn for the worse. Will Jerry be labeled as a dork forever?	Gorman, Carol
Martin Bridge Ready for Takeoff! (series) Meet Martin Bridge, a boy whose plans for a brilliant rocket, a substitute bus driver, and a very old hamster go terribly wrong in this trio of stories.	Gorman, Carol
Deliver Us From Normal Sixth-grader Charles lives in Normal, Illinois, so he should feel pretty normal, right? Wrong! Charles knows that his family is anything but normal. Follow Charles and his crazy year as he tries not to stand out, but is memorable in spite of himself.	Klise, Kate
Letters From Camp Gross food! Strange uniforms! Chores every day! Is this what summer camp should be? The family that runs the camp fights constantly—with each other. Are the campers in danger? What’s the mystery humming under the surface of Camp Happy Harmony? All is revealed through letters, postcards, drawings, camp-o-grams, and more.	Klise, Kate
Regarding the Fountain: a Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks (series) The school in Dry Creek needs a new drinking fountain, but a simple request for a catalog turns the town upside down when the greatest designer of water fountains begins writing to the fifth-grade class. The entire hilarious story is told through letters, memos, newspaper articles, drawings, and ads.	Klise, Kate
Lenny and Mel (series) Follow Lenny and Mel’s cartoons and journal telling about their celebrations of the holidays, from president-head piñatas to Hallowiener hotdogs back to president-head piñatas. Laugh-out-loud funny!	Kraft, Erik P.
My Life as a Fifth Grade Comedian Bobby is about to get thrown out of school when he gets a second chance. His job? Organizing a school-wide laugh-off. Can he prove to everyone—especially his dad—that he can do it?	Levy, Elizabeth
Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid (Stink Moody series) Little is the word for James ("Stink") Moody. He's the shortest kid in his class, and he might actually be shrinking! For Presidents Day, Stink's hero is not big tall Lincoln but another James, James Madison, the shortest president ever--and if Stink can’t get taller, at least he can imitate President Madison and find his greatness!	McDonald, Megan
Secret Letters from 0 to 10 Ernest lives in Paris, France with his grandmother and he is bored, bored, bored-- until an interesting girl named Victoria enters his class at school, and the fun begins.	Morgenstern, Susie Hoch
The Boys Start the War Oh, no—instead of a family of boys moving into the house across the river, Wally and his three brothers discover that the new family has three girls instead! Disgusted that they’ve moved in, the four brothers declare a practical joke war on the girls. But beware—the sequel to this book is The Girls Get Even.	Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
The Boy Who Lost His Face David is only trying to be cool when he helps some of the popular kids steal the old lady’s cane. But the “old witch” curses him, and now he can’t do anything right! Is it the curse or is he just turning into a total loser?	Sachar, Louis
Sideways Stories From Wayside School (Wayside Schoolseries) Laugh out loud when you meet the teachers and students in the strangest school around! Wayside School was accidentally built sideways, so there’s one classroom on each story, and each classroom experiences funny and strange events. In Mrs. Gorp’s room, they discover that she loves apples but hates children. So when they misbehave, poof! she turns them into apples. Will they ever turn back into kids?	Sachar, Louis
Surviving the Applewhites Jake’s been kicked out of many schools. His last chance is the Creative Academy, which is actually the Applewhite family's home school. He quickly finds out that his spiked, scarlet hair and all-black clothing don't even bother this eccentric, artistic family. But 12-year-old E.D., the only practical and organized Applewhite, isn’t thrilled he’s there, so maybe after finally finding a place he wants to be, he won’t get to stay after all.	Tolan, Stephanie S.
Oggie Cooder Oggie has one big talent: he can chew pieces of cheese into any shape he wants them to be. It’s called "charving." When a TV show comes to town looking for kids with weird talents, Oggie is ready! Will he be able to charve his way to the top? Read this book and find out!	Weeks, Sarah
Little Wolf's Book of Badness (series) Wolf has no manners! So his parents send him to his uncle's Big Bad Wolf school to learn to be a proper wolf. He tells his story through funny pictures and misspelled letters.	Whybrow, Ian
I Got a “D” in Salami (Hank Zipzer series) Hank is smart but feels dumb and gets Ds. How can anything go right when a pet iguana decides to nest inside Hank's science project, and a bad report card goes through a meat grinder and ends up in a batch of salami?	Winkler, Henry

Starring Girls

Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel 9781582347455 Will Ellie survive camping with her irritating cousins? Through funny illustrations in her journal, Ellie describes having fun in spite of her family by catching frogs, tossing water balloons, and causing a lot of mischief.	Barshaw, Ruth McNally
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (Dear Dumb Diary series) 0439629047 Jamie Kelly writes about middle school in her diary, and promises that everything she writes is true…at least, the way she sees it! From comments about Angeline “who thinks she’s the Prettiest Girl in the World but is not even in the top five” to teacher “neck blubber,” laugh out loud as you enter Jamie’s world.	Benton, Jim
Lunch Walks Among Us (Franny K. Stein series) 0689862911 Franny K. Stein is a mad scientist who prefers all things spooky and creepy, but when she has trouble making friends at her new school she experiments with fitting in--which works until a monster erupts from the trashcan!	Benton, Jim
Moving Day (Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls series) 9780545039475 Allie finds out that she’s moving, so she’s hoping that her new list of rules will help her in her new school. "Rule #1: Don’t Stick a Spatula Down Your Best Friend’s Throat,” which Allie wants to do in the worst way after fighting with her best friend. Read about the rest of Allie’s Rules for Life in this funny book.	Cabot, Meg
Utterly Me, Clarice Bean (Clarice Bean series) 0763621862 Clarice is determined to be a detective like her favorite book heroine, Ruby Redfort. When someone steals a trophy, she gets her chance to solve the crime. Get to know Clarice through her journal, filled with funny comments, crazy illustrations, fonts, designs, and more.	Child, Lauren
Diary of a Fairy Godmother 0786809655 Hunky Dory’s diary is a great place to figure out how she can grant wishes instead of cast bad spells. They kick her out of charm school, though, so what can she do?	Codell, Esmé Raji
P.S. Longer Letter Later 0613182715 12-year-old best friends Elizabeth and Tara-Starr are really upset when Tara-Starr’s family moves to another state. So they decide to write letters (emails in the sequel) that detail all the adventures they encounter in school and with their family and friends. (sequel: Snail Mail No More)	Danziger, Paula
Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady (Dear America series) 0590962736 Margaret writes in her diary about her exciting opportunity to go on the Titanic with her rich employer. But when the Titanic hits an iceberg, Margaret finds out if she can be brave when the ship begins to sink with all onboard.
Heart to Heart with Mallory (Mallory series) 1575059320 Joey’s father and Mary Ann’s mother are dating. Writing and illustrating her diary, Mallory worries about stepbrothers and sisters, being left out, and a “secret admirer” from Valentine’s Day.	Friedman, Laurie B.
The Private Notebook of Katie Roberts, age 11 1564024741 Katie keeps a notebook about the funny experiences and the worries she has with school, family, and friends.	Hest, Amy
Letters From Camp 0380975394 Gross food! Strange uniforms! Chores every day! Is this what summer camp should be? The family that runs the camp fights constantly—with each other. Are the campers—all brothers and sisters—in danger? What’s the mystery humming under the surface of Camp Happy Harmony? All is revealed through letters, postcards, drawings, camp-o-grams, and more!	Klise, Kate
Trial by Jury/Journal 0380978806 Lily’s in sixth grade--and she’s also the youngest person on a jury for a murder trial. Through postcards, ads, newspaper articles, and journal entries, learn about Lily’s realization that the boy who disappeared might be alive after all—and it’s up to her to find him.	Klise, Kate
Anastasia Krupnick *(Anastasia Krupnick* series)** Anastasia loves being an only child, and she loves making lists: “Things I Love” and “Things I Hate.” Her “hate” list gets a big addition when she finds out that her parents are expecting a baby! They agree to let Anastasia name it—a BIG mistake! How will Anastasia adjust?	Lowry, Lois
Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing) 9-year-old Julia has a lot of time to herself this summer, so she takes her Saint Bernard and looks for not-too-scary adventures in books and in real life.	McGhee, Alison
Amelia’s Notebook *(Amelia* series)** Amelia keeps a lavishly decorated notebook in this and all the other sequels, covering babysitting, traveling with her family, school problems, gossip, and much more!	Moss, Marissa
The Girls Get Even The three Mallow sisters are determined to get even with the four Hatford brothers, who have been playing tricks on them ever since the sisters became their neighbors. Now Halloween is approaching. Can they think of a great prank to play on the brothers? Read this book and find out! (sequel to The Boys Start the War)	Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
Geek Chic Zoey is going into sixth grade and is stressed out about bad hair days, finding the best lunch table, and other trials of middle school. Using fun fonts, illustrations, and observations, Zoey writes about her year.	Palatini, Margie
Clementine *(Clementine* series)** While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor Margaret, eight-year-old Clementine gets some wild hairstyles and helps her father get rid of the pigeons in front of their apartment building.	Pennypacker, Sara
Sideways Stories From Wayside School (Wayside School series) 0380698714 Laugh out loud when you meet the teachers and students in the strangest school around! Wayside School was accidentally built sideways, so there’s one classroom on each story, and each classroom experiences funny and strange events. In Mrs. Gorp’s room, they discover that she loves apples but hates children. So when they misbehave, poof! she turns them into apples. Will they ever turn back into kids?	Sachar, Louis
Surviving the Applewhites 0066236029 Jake’s been kicked out of many schools. His last chance is the Creative Academy, which is actually the Applewhite family's home school. He quickly finds out that his spiked, scarlet hair and all-black clothing don't even bother this eccentric, artistic family. But 12-year-old E.D., the only practical and organized Applewhite, isn’t thrilled he’s there. How can she deal with another strange person in an already strange family?	Tolan, Stephanie S.
Double Act Ruby and Garnet are identical twins. Although they look the same on the outside, they’re very different in their likes and dislikes. One thing they do agree on, though—they hate Dad’s new girlfriend, and are horrified when they must move and adjust to a new life—all because of HER. What will they do?	Wilson, Jacqueline