The Third Wheel

The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

I want to be one of those people who recognize that it is best to end a good thing before it goes bad. I will agree that this is difficult. Case in point – I thoroughly enjoyed Diary of a Wimpy Kid (DWK) book 5, The Ugly Truth, and book 6, Cabin Fever. My reviews are proof to me when I wouldn’t have believed otherwise. I was gushing about this series.

Book 7, The Third Wheel, isn’t gush-worthy. In fact, it is unmemorable. I didn’t find it funny. I didn’t laugh out loud. As a parent, I would advise other parents not to waste $8 on a book that will be read in under an hour that doesn’t live up to its predecessors – borrow it from the library. (Actually, I would always advise borrowing over buying.) We have plenty. I have also read that the digital version has not been usable with all Kindle products, but that is really the only bad review of this sequel that I have read.

The kids still love it. The kids still want more. Overwhelmingly.

The first half of the book is squandered on what Greg Heffley experienced in the womb and as a baby. This effort doesn’t ring true with the rest of the series. In past books, both adults and children can identify with Greg primarily because we have had the same experiences in school, with parents or as parents. We don’t remember listening to Mozart in the womb or its effects on our I.Q. in later life. We don’t remember hearing our father talk about his (tedious) day through a microphone attached to the headphones strapped to our mother’s belly. And we certainly don’t remember being disappointed to find out we weren’t the first born.

The rest of the book is devoted to the junior high Valentine’s Dance. The kids have to raise money for it, get elected to committees for it, and ask around for a date to it. There are plenty of side stories woven in, but they don’t add to the overall story. In the end, Greg is no longer a wimpy kid, but a jerk. He has no redeeming qualities. He is selfish and clueless. There is no longer much to like about him.

In past books, Greg’s mother, father and older brother provide quite a bit of the comedy. In fact, Greg’s big brother helps to make Greg pull off the title of wimp. These three characters are practically non-existent. Younger brother Manny only serves to show that the parents treated the two boys differently in an effort to guarantee future success. Parents will understand. You do everything “right” with the first child. You are much more lenient with the second.

I don’t see an end in sight for this series. Let us hope the St. Patrick’s Day festivities are more successful.