A Parade of Anti-Heroes

   Sometimes as a teacher, a great idea does not turn out so great.  My great idea was that the first three students who handed an assignment in early, that was due on February 28th, could assign me to read a book of their choice.  The three books my students gave me to read were, in this order,
1) Diary of a Wimpy Kid-the Getaway by Jeff Kinney
2) Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
3) The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon
While this challenge did motivate some students to complete their work early, I did not particularly enjoy reading these books.
   My young adult children would tell you that my experience with these children's books is a bit unusual.  Typically, I really enjoy books written for middle school and high school readers.  Books that have won or are nominated for the Newbery Medal are among my favorites. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, intended for children, have a depth to them that led me to read them over again several times as an adult.
   I was reflecting on some commonalities in the three books listed above and what exactly made them distasteful to me.  The main character in each book is a boy I would best describe as an anti-hero.  He's not a villain, but he prides himself in lacking basic social skills.  He is a misfit, but he construes his place in society as everyone else's fault.
   Anti-heroes Greg Heffley and Tom Gates appear in journal-like books with plenty of stick figure illustrations and a font that mimics a kid's legible printing.  Both of them despise their siblings, parents, and teachers. Tom Gates takes the family mockery to another level by calling his grandparents "the Fossils" and finding them useful only for giving him candy or money at his convenience.
   In contrast, Alcatraz Smedry is a fantasy character in a chapter book without illustrations.  Alcatraz has been raised by a series of foster parents, but on his thirteenth birthday he gets a glimpse of his true identity as a Smedry, one of a line of people with special talents.  The types of talents the Smedrys have include breaking things, being late for things, tripping, and falling to the ground.  Alcatraz is the narrator, and he constantly reminds the reader that he is not a hero, not brave and not a very good person. Most of the book has him and a cast of relatives all named after famous prisons fighting and using assorted weaponry to recapture a bag of sand they fear will be turned into a set of lenses that will give the Evil Librarians the upper hand in a culture war.
   In fairness, Alcatraz grows as a person and becomes more capable of caring for others by the end of the book.  However, Greg and Tom experience no growth in character in their stories.  Instead, they become better at manipulating others and escape any consequences of their misdeeds.
   Now, other adults who would happen to pick up these three titles and read them back-to-back might have a much different reaction to them than I do.  Perhaps I am taking them too seriously when they are meant to be funny, the same way "Dennis the Menace" and Calvin from "Calvin and Hobbes" are supposed to be entertaining.  What I think disturbs me the most about this parade of anti-heroes is that I occasionally see real children behaving just like them, disrespecting themselves and others, reveling in passivity, and having disgraceful goals like publicly insulting someone they dislike.