Books › Can Adults Become Human (Dear Dumb Diary #5)
Can Adults Become Human (Dear Dumb Diary #5)
144 pages
A hilarious, doodle-filled deep dive into the chaotic, petty, and highly dramatic mind of a middle schooler.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like intercepting a note passed in the back of a middle school classroom. It is fast, funny, and unapologetically snarky. The diary format creates a brisk reading experience, driven by a narrator who is delightfully petty, highly dramatic, and completely relatable. The mood is chaotic and lighthearted, perfectly capturing the exaggerated angst of tween life where a teacher's lack of a smile is a profound mystery and a rival's downfall is a daily daydream. The prose is conversational and sharp, heavily supported by expressive doodles that act as visual punchlines. It is an absolute delight for readers who crave irreverent humor, relatable schoolyard dynamics, and a protagonist who says exactly what she is thinking, no matter how ridiculous.
- Mood
- lighthearted
- chaotic
- silly
- energetic
- Tone
- snarky
- irreverent
- dramatic
- hilarious
- candid
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- middle school survival · tween angst · petty rivalries · the mystery of adults · friendship dynamics
- The writing
- Conversational, highly exaggerated, and punctuated by expressive doodles that amplify the sarcastic humor.
- The arc
- Moves from exaggerated, petty frustrations with the adult world to a begrudging, slightly softened acceptance of how weird everyone is.
- Who it's for
- Middle-grade readers who love snarky protagonists, doodle-filled pages, and laughing at the absurdities of school life.
Content notes
- mild bullying
- frequent sarcasm
About the book
Read the hilarious, candid (and sometimes not-so-nice), diaries of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything in her diary is true...or at least as true as it needs to be. Dear Dumb Diary, My social studies teacher, Mr. VanDoy, never smiles. I know that's hard to believe, because everybody smiles about something, right? Isabella smiles when her brothers get in trouble. Angeline smiles when she thinks about how much prettier she is than, like, a waterfall or a unicorn. I smile when I think about a unicorn kicking Angeline over a waterfall. But Mr. VanDoy doesn't smile at all. I wonder if when you become an adult, you can lose your sense of humor the way you lose your teeth or hair or fashion sense.
Description from Open Library.
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