Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School

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Old School
"BEWARE OF SILAS SCRATCH"
Book Type: Children's Book Genre: Comedy Franchise: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Author(s): Jeff Kinney Pages: 217 Previous Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul Next Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School is a children's novel written by American author Jeff Kinney first published in 2015. It is the tenth book of Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, preceded by The Long Haul and followed by Double Down. The book was released on November 3, 2015 worldwide, though an extract from the book was released online on October 27, 2015.

Plot

Life was better in the old days. Or was it? That's the question Greg Heffley is asking as his town voluntarily unplugs and goes electronics-free. But modern life has its conveniences, and Greg isn't cut out for an old-fashioned world. With tension building inside and outside the Heffley home, will Greg find a way to survive? Or is going “old school” just too hard for a kid like Greg?

Why This Book Needs to Drop Out

Poor Grandpa.

1. As with most modern Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, it doesn't try to be relatable like it used to be. Instead, it focuses on appealing to kids who prefer fictional ideas over realistic stories. This is most evident through the pig, who walks, has a human-like mind and wears pants, which certainly nobody can relate too.
   • Speaking of stories, the story is inconsistent the entire time.
     • First, it's about how the old times are horrible compared to what the modern generation has, which makes the first story an insult anyone with nostalgia.
     • Second, it's about the pig being a nuisance.
   • Third, it's about Frank being more worried that Grandpa will think him and Susan are bad parents.
     • Fourth, it's about Rodrick getting a job.
     • Fifth, it's about Grandpa being caught throwing a party.
     • Sixth, it's about Greg and Rowley trying to make a lemonade stand.
     • Seventh, it's about Greg running away from the park with Frew and an inmate. Yes, an inmate tagged along and even temporarily became friends with two children.
     • Eighth, it's about Greg and Grandpa getting into mishaps on the road.
     • Ninth, it's about Greg needing to prepare for Hardscrabble Farms.
     • Tenth, it's about Greg actually going to the farm.
       • Thus, there are a total 10 plots, and the main plot ends at page 109, out of a 217-page book.
2. Susan can be considered unlikable since she forces the entire town to go electronics-free, and is also a hypocrite since when Greg gets to the park; she says that engaging in a business is bad, but buys from the Girl Scouts soon after and uses a tracking device on her phone when Greg runs from the park… while on a no-electronics weekend. Making that one even more ironic is that she was the one who even came up with the idea in the first place. Even Greg points this out. The hypocrisy never ends.
3. Frank can also be unlikable, since he pounces at everyone for even the littlest of mistakes all because he thought Grandpa would think of him as a bad father, which is very unjustified when even the best of parents have children who make mistakes.
4. False Advertising and Misleading Pages: Silas Scratch is shown to be the main character at the beginning of the book before the story starts and is even at the front of the character lineup, but he only appears for a couple of pages and isn't even real.
5. Like most Wimpy Kid books after The Long Haul, this book has an unrealistic climax, which makes part of the book unrelatable. In this case, Greg ends up inside the shack in which it's said Silas Scratch lived in, but then he finds Frank taking a shower in there. Then it's revealed Frank made the whole thing up when he was a kid, and somehow the myth stuck around all the way when he was an adult. The main problem with this is that since he made it up as a kid, it would have been surely debunked by then.
6. The reveal that Frank came up with Silas Scratch was a bit obvious, since at the beginning of the farm plot, there's an image of a picture inside a text bubble showing a kid named Frankie with a similar hairdo telling everyone he found Silas.
7. Overall, this is a filler book, as the next one ignores the book's events entirely. One can read the first nine Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, skip this book and jump straight into Double Down without missing anything important at all.

Good Qualities

1. Good artwork, per usual.
2. The camping segment does end on a decent note with Frank letting everyone sleep in the cabin and Greg keeping Frank's secret a secret.
3. The running away segment is pretty good.
4. Frank's backstory is very interesting but emotionally tragic and that could be the reason why he is the terrible father to Greg and Rodrick.
5. The successor, while not being any better, ignores the book's existence entirely, with the Pig not wearing Manny's shorts or standing on two legs, and Grandpa Heffley not living with the family.
6. Some likable characters, such as Grandpa Heffley.
   • Greg can be likable at some pages.

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