Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney
For younger readers who loved Junior's cartoons and wry diary entries, Greg's doodled journal delivers the same mix of awkward school life and comic self-awareness, though with lighter stakes.
12 books to read next
Books Like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
If you loved The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Readers love Junior's funny, blunt, heartbreaking voice as he straddles two worlds: the reservation he loves and the white farm-town school where he hopes for a future. The book mixes cartoons with diary entries, tackles poverty, grief, alcoholism, racism and friendship without lecturing, and balances real sorrow with laugh-out-loud humor. It moves fast, feels honest, and captures what it costs to leave home, and what it means to stay yourself while doing it.
Funny voice, serious stakes
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Jesse Andrews
Greg's self-deprecating, profane, hilarious narration about friendship and illness echoes Junior's way of joking through pain while still letting the sadness land.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
Charlie's letters share Junior's intimate, confessional tone, following an outsider navigating high school, friendship, grief and family secrets with tenderness and humor.
Navigating two worlds
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
Starr moves between her Black neighborhood and a mostly white prep school, wrestling with identity and loyalty much as Junior does between Wellpinit and Reardan.
American Born Chinese
Gene Luen Yang
This graphic novel explores fitting in, stereotypes and self-acceptance for an Asian American teen, pairing sharp humor with visual storytelling that Junior's cartoon fans will appreciate.
Dear Martin
Nic Stone
Justyce, a Black scholarship student at an elite school, writes letters while facing racism from all sides, offering the same honest look at belonging and code-switching.
More Indigenous voices
Firekeeper's Daughter
Angeline Boulley
An Ojibwe teen caught between her tribal community and the outside world anchors this gripping thriller, rich with the community detail and identity questions Junior's story raises.
If I ever get out of here
Eric L. Gansworth
A Tuscarora boy from the reservation befriends a white classmate in the 1970s, with music, humor and poverty explored in a way that closely echoes Junior's friendship struggles.
Hearts unbroken
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Muscogee teen Louise confronts racism at school and in a controversial school play, offering a contemporary, thoughtful companion to Junior's experience as an outsider.
Go deeper with Alexie
The Lone Ranger and Tonto fistfight in heaven
Sherman Alexie
These adult linked stories set on the Spokane reservation show where Junior's world came from, with the same dark humor about poverty, alcohol and resilience, for older teens.
There There
Tommy Orange, Julia Osuna Aguilar
For mature readers, this novel of urban Native lives converging in Oakland expands the identity questions Junior asks into a powerful, multi-voiced adult story.
Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
Melinda's sardonic, isolated voice and her art class lifeline mirror how Junior uses humor and drawing to survive trauma and loneliness at school.
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