No brainer

Larry Mack Middle School faces a budget crisis in this 18th Diary of a Wimpy Kid outing. Like a stand-up comedian, the hapless (and apparently ageless) Greg Heffley presents a portrait of his thoroughly dysfunctional school through an extended barrage of setups and punchlines. In the wake of budget cuts to cover a new town baseball stadium, hallways have become plastered with ads from local businesses. After a round of cuts, only three of 10 janitors and one social studies teacher are left. At least the school has a librarian--though maybe not for long, considering she's forced to draw pants on Commando Crocodile, a reptilian graphic novel hero who's the subject of a parental complaint. Despite the best efforts of the principal, who comes out of retirement to replace the one who got fired after some historically low standardized test scores, the school does get shut down, at least temporarily. The plot, though, really takes a back seat to Kinney's relentless fun-poking. Readers may get more of a kick out of comparing their own scholastic environments to one where students have to gnaw points on their pencils because the sharpener is broken, fudge-covered tofu hot dogs are a hit lunchroom option, and the roaches are so big you can hear their footsteps. Collectively a bit much, but taken in small doses, this is a savage rib-tickler. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.