While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house-and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw-Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and-most serious-civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves-during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement. Reminiscent of Tomie dePaola’s 26 Fairmount Avenue books, this brief tale tenderly portrays a large, loving extended family and presents a rich multicultural theme and an engaging plot for middle-to-upper–elementary readers. Chester tries to help Artie out by spending time with him, but he also begins to enjoy the company of a young female shopkeeper, a relationship the child at first regards jealously but then accepts because of its positive effect on his beloved uncle. He has yet to achieve financial independence, wasting too much time and money betting on horses and enjoying the camaraderie of a vividly depicted 1950s-era San Francisco Chinatown. Uncle Chester, like Artie, is the youngest of his generation and has also been the target of a little bullying. In the way that young children often do, when pressed by his bullying older cousin Petey 8-year-old Artie boasts that he’ll provide the whole family with firecrackers for the upcoming Chinese New Year. Firecrackers are expensive, and he quickly regrets the promise, but Petey won’t let him forget it.
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