With Christmas right around the corner, Greg Heffley's just trying to keep his nose clean. Good intentions notwithstanding, Greg finds himself wanted by the police (or so he thinks; it's sort of true) before a blizzard knocks out power and he's able to redeem himself (by mistake). Kinney provides more laugh-out-loud silliness from the hapless wimpy kid.

In a world where "Wimpy Kid–like" has become a shorthand to describe a certain type of book, what is there to say about the sixth volume in the groundbreaking series? It certainly delivers what series fans have grown to expect: "hand-lettered" text on lined, faux-journal pages and cartoon vignettes depicting the opinions and misadventures of antihero and diarist Greg Heffley. Here, Greg struggles to get from Thanksgiving to Christmas without attracting Santa's attention. Before getting to the sub-titular main event, Kinney lampoons school anti-bullying efforts, our modern obsession with safety and Internet games that entice players to spend real money on fake consumer goods. Predictably, Greg's jury-rigged get-rich-quick scheme in service of his Net Kritterz pet goes awry, resulting in his conviction that at any moment he will be arrested. Then the blizzard starts, and Greg, brothers Rodrick and Manny and their mother are snowed in. With the power cut off and food supplies running low, things are looking desperate… Unfortunately, the humor inherent in this scenario is stifled by Kinney's having given over so much of the set up (more than two thirds of the book) to digressive, stand-up–comic rants that what could provoke manic hysteria elicits only chuckles, if that. Kinney has built a world that has potential for truly subversive humor and has a fan base willing to go wherever he takes it, but by choosing to play it safe here, he sells both short. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Adults just don't make any sense. They say kids should get more exercise, and then they take away all the playground equipment because they're afraid of getting sued. They allege that they're in charge, yet they have to ask middle-schoolers how to work the microwave. They proclaim kids should read more and then publish books like this! Wait. Well . . . they definitely got that last one right, as everything in this sixth entry will appeal to the very readers who have made this the 'tween series of the decade. This time around, Greg Heffley's can-you-even-believe-it diary entries and comical line art capture a nightmarish month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, during which (among other indignities) a blizzard strands him at home with his family, including two ruinous brothers, all under Santa's watch: "If you make a mistake during the first eleven months of the year, it's no big deal. But if you do something wrong during the holiday season, you're gonna pay for it. It's too much pressure to be on your best behavior for a whole month. The most I can handle is six or seven days in a row." Throughout, as Greg expresses his confusion, frustration, and self-satisfaction in his laugh-out-loud voice, Kinney once again taps into kids' everyday emotions with uncanny accuracy and consistency. New and old fans alike will read this, love it, read it again, and start the countdown for the next one.