Currently the best-selling book in the country is Jeff Kinney’s latest featuring his endearing middle schooler Greg Heffley, also known as the Wimpy Kid. “The Third Wheel” is the seventh book in the series.

These books are recommended for children who are in the third grade and above. They are popular with students who can be reluctant readers, particularly boys. Jeff Kinney is also a cartoonist. He intersperses his stories with humorous drawings that illustrate his story lines and enhance them.

Kinney’s audience increases with each successive title. His previous book, “Cabin Fever,” had an initial print run of six million copies. Kinney has a magical way of connecting with his readers. Greg, the Wimpy Kid, is having experiences that clearly resonate with many middle schoolers.

This reviewer is a lot older than Kinney’s typical reader. My middle-school memories are just that; memories. Most of the Wimpy Kid’s fans are experiencing middle school in real time. Regardless, I was immersed and chuckling right along from the very first page.

In this one Greg is getting excited about the upcoming Valentine’s Day Dance at his school. “The Third Wheel” of the title? That would be Greg. Each book is written in the form of journal entries as Greg talks about his life and all the situations he encounters.

As this one begins Greg reflects that “I wish I’d started keeping a journal a lot earlier on, because whoever ends up writing my biography is gonna have a lot of questions about my life in the years leading up to middle school.”

Fortunately for Greg and the millions of fans of the Wimpy Kid, he claims that “luckily, I remember just about everything that’s happened to me since I was born. In fact, I can remember stuff that happened to me BEFORE I was born.”

That’s Greg, one moment he thinks that he knows it all, the next minute he might be feeling insecure about something else, like whether he can find a girl who will go to that dance with him. This is the key to the success of these books; the author Jeff Kinney has an uncanny gift for crystallizing the thoughts and emotions of his fictional middle schoolers in a light, humorous way. They feel so real,

Greg claims to have memories from before he was born-when his mother was pregnant with him-she played music for him and read books to him. He wishes he had paid better attention; “last week in school we had a pop quiz on a book, and I hadn’t read it yet. I was pretty sure Mom read that to me before I was born, but I couldn’t remember any of the details.”

“The Third Wheel” deftly addresses some serious and not-so-serious issues that kids might be dealing with these days. There’s a situation where Greg’s uncle moves in with them: “It’s really inconvenient with Uncle Gary sleeping on our couch. His bad dreams keep him up all night, and then he sleeps through most of the day. That really stinks when you want to relax after school and watch some TV.”

Greg’s reflections are amusing and endearing. His charming accounts of his little brother’s imaginary friends and his descriptions of the relationship with his best friend Rowley are precious indeed. Lots of middle schoolers will be delighted to find this title inside their Christmas stockings.