Rodrick Rules by Kinney, Jeff Warning: Don't read this book in public places. I have never been a middle school boy, but that didn't stop me from laughing out loud in coffee shops and on buses when reading Jeff Kinney's latest book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. Curious onlookers, wondering what could possibly be so funny, might have noticed the novel's kid-like font, the pages that look like notebook paper, or the fantastic cartoon drawings that fill the book. What they couldn't have known was how completely Kinney's story transported me into the life, body, and mind of a preteen boy…and how much fun it was. To put it shortly, this book is hilarious. Have you ever done anything embarrassing over summer vacation? Well, Greg Heffley has, and he definitely doesn't want to talk about it—he won't even write it down in the new diary…I mean journal…his mom got him for the new school year. Unfortunately, Greg's older brother Rodrick knows all about the "incident", and secrets like that always find ways of getting out. Greg is the king of pranks (which he rationalizes as a way to climb the complicated ladder of popularity or get back at his older brother for locking him in the basement during a party), and one of my favorite scenes in the book is when Greg gets his entire school to pretend that a classmate doesn't exist. The kid talks, they hear a gentle humming; he pokes them, they feel the bite of a flea. It's cruel, I know, but it's middle school, and it's funny…and Greg does get called to the principal's office, which is nothing compared to what his mother has to say. Kinney's sequel to the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid is page after page of sidesplitting antics and insight into the turbulent life of a middle school boy. You'll end the book rooting for this wimpy kid, whether he deserves it or not.