I think a lot of us wish there were more books like the Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. So when I heard that this new book was the "Wimpy Kid for high schoolers" I was definitely interested in taking a look at it.
Larkin Pace is a very ordinary 14 year-old dealing with the usual bullies at school, a bratty, spoiled older sister and confusing relationships with girls. Like Greg in the Wimpy Kid series, he has a best friend, Freddie, who is pretty clueless and socially awkward. There are some funny parts -- Freddie who wears his bedroom slippers to school, Larkin's plans to impress Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard with his movie ideas about shampoo girls, and Larkin's attempts to impress the girls at the school dance by wearing multiple shirts under his regular one to make himself look bigger.
I didn't find it as funny or as natural as Wimpy Kid -- and parts of the storyline were pretty cliche. The illustrations and font didn't have the fun cartoon feel either. But to be fair, reading this after Wimpy Kid probably affected my perceptions...