In his latest diary, the fifth in the mega-best-selling Wimpy Kid series, Greg Heffley, star of page and screen, proves indisputably that "when it comes right down to it, middle-schoolers are just a bunch of wild animals." It's a jungle out there for sure, and the key components are farting, pimples, family gatherings, headgear, fatherly homework help, lousy aim in the bathroom, and, of course, girls. Greg's main focus as the school year gets under way is replacing his best friend, Rowley, with whom he had a falling out over the summer. Although he has not reached full-blown puberty quite yet, Greg feels as if he's hit his childhood "expiration date," and when you're no longer a cute kid, nothing is as easy as it used to be. Once again, Kinney remains unerringly attuned to the tween psyche as he packs in rapid-fire experiences in words and cartoons that are bust-a-gut funny, beg-to-stay-home-from-school mortifying, and completely authentic in all their ugly truths.

Greg, fighting with Rowley, tries for new friends. Preoccupied with puberty, Greg wishes his immature classmates would outgrow their "wild animals" phase. Thin plotting makes the story's resolution almost an afterthought. However, as usual, visual and verbal humor abound, and the issue of puberty is discussed honestly without going into details that might make readers (or their parents) squeamish.

See, when you're a little kid, nobody ever warns you that you've got an expiration date. One day you're hot stuff and the next day you're a dirt sandwich, Greg Heffley tells readers partway into this fifth installment of Kinney's bestselling Wimpy Kid series. There's a noticeable feeling of transition in this outing as Greg negotiates a sour patch with longtime best friend Rowley, his mother's decision to go back to school, the imminence of puberty (and dreaded accompanying discussions at home and at school), and the fact that one can't stay a child forever%E2%80%94despite evidence to the contrary provided by Greg's Uncle Gary, who's embarking on his fourth marriage. Although there is perhaps less of a central focus in this book than in some of its predecessors, the sense that ""all good things must come to an end"" emerges, something that inevitably will be true of the series itself at some point. But Kinney hasn't lost his touch for spinning universal details of middle-school life into comic gold%E2%80%94he doesn't have to worry about becoming a dirt sandwich anytime soon. Ages 8%E2%80%9312. (Nov.)%0D