J SAC Sideways Stories from Wayside
School by Louis Sachar-Humorous episodes
from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of
Wayside School, which was accidentally built
sideways with one classroom on each story.
J SCI Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka(First book in series) Three boys use a
magical book to travel through time and have
many adventures with King Arthur, the
Knights of the Roundtable and Merlin, the
Magician.
J STA Donuthead by Sue StauffacherFranklin Delano Donuthead, a fifth-grader
obsessed with hygiene and safety, finds an
unlikely friend and protector in Sarah
Kervick, the tough new student who lives in a
dirty trailer, bonds with his mother, and is as
"irregular" as he is.
J VER Dragon Breath by Ursula Vernon(First book in series) Danny Dragonbreath
and his friend Wendell get an up-close
underwater tour of the Sargasso Sea from
Danny's sea-serpent cousin, encountering
giant squid and mako sharks--and learn
about standing up to bullies in the process.
J YEP Cockroach Cooties by Laurence YepTeddy and his little brother Bobby devise
strategies using bugs to defeat the school
bully.
J WIN Niagara Falls (Hank Zipzer)
by Henry Winkler-(First book in series) Fourthgraders Hank, Ashley, and Frankie are
excitedly preparing for a magic show at the
Rock 'N Bowl when Hank's creative
alternative to an English essay lands him in
detention and grounded the week of the
show.
Y YOO The Detention Club by David YooSixth-grader Peter Lee, in a desperate
attempt to regain the popularity he had in
elementary school, discovers that serving
detention can win him important friends,
much to the dismay of his over-achieving
eighth-grade sister, Sunny.
J YOU Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles by
Karen Romano Young-When Doreen "Dodo"
Bussey's family moves to a new home, her
mother gives her a blank notebook in which
Dodo documents her new life, from the move
and first days in a new city, to her new school
and friends.
Wimpy Kid
Read-a-likes
JOLIET PUBLIC LIBRARY
YOUTH SERVICES DEPARTMENT
(815) 740-2662
MAIN LIBRARY
150 N. OTTAWA ST.
JOLIET, IL 60432
BLACK ROAD BRANCH
3395 BLACK ROAD
JOLIET, IL 60431
LH 11/11
If you’re a ‘Wimpy Kid’ fan,
try one of these read-a-likes.
Wimpy Kid
Read-a-likes
J AMA Please Write in This Book
by Mary Amato-When Ms. Wurtz leaves a
blank book in the Writer's Corner with a note
encouraging those who find it to "talk to each
other" in its pages, the student's entries spark
a classroom-wide battle.
J AMA The Riot Brothers by Mary AmatoThree stories star Wilbur and Orville, the Riot
brothers, as they capture a thief, find a hidden treasure, and overthrow the Snowball
King during a snow day.
J ANG The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by
Tom Angleberger-Sixth-grader Tommy and his
friends try to figure out if a finger puppet of
Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight,
can really predict the future. Includes
instructions for making Origami Yoda.
J BEN Franny K. Stein by Jim Benton-(First
book in series) Franny K. Stein is a mad
scientist who prefers all things spooky and
creepy, but when she has trouble making
friends at her new school she experiments
with fitting in--which works until a monster
erupts from the trash can.
J BEN Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton-(First
book in series) In her diary, middle school
student Jamie Kelly describes her life at
home and at school, including her attempts to
triumph over her nemesis, the beautiful and
popular Angeline.
J CLE Frindle by Andrew Clements-When he
decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love
of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick
Allen invents a new word and begins a chain
of events that quickly moves beyond his
control.
J CLE Lunch Money by Andrew ClementsTwelve-year-old Greg, who has always been
good at moneymaking projects, is surprised
to find himself teaming up with his lifelong
rival, Maura, to create a series of comic
books to sell at school.
J COW How to Train Your Dragon
by Cressida Cowell-Chronicles the adventures
and misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous
Haddock the Third as he tries to pass the
important initiation test of his Viking clan, the
Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, by catching and
training a dragon.
J GRI Dear Max by Sally Grindley-As Max-who is almost ten--and his favorite author,
D.J. Lucas, exchange letters, the two writers
help each other with their new books and
develop a special friendship.
J GUT The Homework Machine
by Dan Gutman-Four fifth-grade students--a
geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a
slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers,
each relate events surrounding a computer
programmed to complete homework
assignments.
J GUT Miss Daisy is Crazy! by Dan GutmanMiss Daisy's unusual teaching methods surprise her second grade students, especially
reluctant learner A.J.
J HOL Middle School is Worse Than
Meatloaf by Jennifer Holm-Ginny starts out
with ten items on her to-do list for seventh
grade, but notes, cartoons, and other "stuff"
reveal what seems like a thousand things
that go wrong between September and June,
both at school and at home
J KOR Schooled by Gordon Korman-When
his hippie grandmother lands in the hospital
homeschooled Capricorn (Cap) Anderson is
forced to move in with a guidance counselor
and attend the local middle school. While
Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen
Buddhism, no education could prepare him
for the politics of public school.
J LUB My Rotten Life by Dave Lubar-Tired of
continually having his feelings hurt by
popular students and bullies, fifth-grader
Nathan agrees to try an experimental
formula, Hurt-Be-Gone, and becomes a halfdead zombie, a condition which, he soon
discovers, has some real advantages.
J MCD Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid
by Megan McDonald-The shortest kid in the
second grade, James Moody, also known as
Stink, learns all about the shortest president
of the United States, James Madison, when
they celebrate Presidents' Day at school.
J PAU Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen-Things get
out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a
neighbor convinces him to expand his
summer lawn mowing business.
J RUS Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell
-Fourteen-year-old Nikki Maxwell writes in
her diary of her struggle to be popular at her
exclusive new private school, then of finding
her place after she gives up on being part of
the elite group.