Review Detail

Jamie Kelly might be my middle school alter ego, and not just because of our last names. She hates math, believes more food should be served in stacks, has a snarky sense of humor, and would die if anyone read her diary. Let's face it, she could be my alter ego today. After twelve books, each following a month in her life, Jim Benton's hilarious middle schooler is back and fired up.

Jamie can't believe she has to go back to school and deal with things like vocabulary bees, perfect girls who somehow make glasses look adorable, and the possibility of summer school. She handles all of her life's crises with humor that had me giggling. Benton has a gift for writing Jamie's voice exactly like the girl you'd want sitting next to you in class, whispering terrible comments. Some gems include, "Teachers have the very difficult job of teaching dumb things to even dumber people" and telling her mom, "I love it when you use my middle name...let's use it all the time."

The Dear Dumb Diary books are extremely popular, so most readers won't be starting the series with this volume. If they did, they would not miss out on any of the jokes and would probably be motivated to catch up with the previous 12 books. This book is perfect for your humor-loving middle grade student.