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Ma vie en Smiley #1
My Life in Smiley: It's All Good
Follow the middle school misadventures of Max, as recorded in his hilarious Diary of a Wimpy Kid –style journal that is unconventionally illustrated with the internationally recognized emoticons of the SmileyWorld brand.
Age 8-12 Grade 3rd and up
Do not read before 2126! My Life in It's All Good is meant strictly for people of the future, chronicling the life and times of Max, an average eleven-year-old. Annoying siblings, stage fright, love at first sight—can you believe what kids in the 21st century had to deal with? Follow his illustrated diary as has embarks on a great journey—the first year of middle school in France. Max’s journal entries, humorous drawings, and colorful smileys recount his adventures in making new friends, dealing with bullies, and surviving a ruthless P.E. teacher. Along the way, Max starts to figure out how to interact with his peers, and he realizes that at the end of the day, no matter what life throws at him, it’s all good!
Age 8-12 Grade 3rd and up
Do not read before 2126! My Life in It's All Good is meant strictly for people of the future, chronicling the life and times of Max, an average eleven-year-old. Annoying siblings, stage fright, love at first sight—can you believe what kids in the 21st century had to deal with? Follow his illustrated diary as has embarks on a great journey—the first year of middle school in France. Max’s journal entries, humorous drawings, and colorful smileys recount his adventures in making new friends, dealing with bullies, and surviving a ruthless P.E. teacher. Along the way, Max starts to figure out how to interact with his peers, and he realizes that at the end of the day, no matter what life throws at him, it’s all good!
- GenresMiddle Grade
208 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2016
34 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 25, 2018
I love 💕 books 📚 written in diary form! I especially love 💕 books 📚 written in diary form that are illustrated! I love 💕 emojis 😃😍😋🤪😎! Unfortunately I didn’t love 💕this book 📖. Maybe I’m comparing it too much to others I’ve read like Dork Diaries but I found this book 📖 bordering on boring 💤.
There’s a dire warning ⚠️ about not reading this book 📖 until 2126 with the threat of such cool 😎 stuff as hundreds of tarantulas 🕷 jumping out of massive black blisters on your hands 🤚. I read the warning ⚠️ page and got my hopes up but it turned out that this was the only page that really showed the kind of personality I’ve come to expect in diary format kid’s books 📚.
It’s not like nothing happened. We follow Max, who’s 11, through his first year at middle school. Max lives in France 🇫🇷 with his parents and sisters Marion, who’s 14 and super annoying and Lisa, who’s 8 and the favourite child. He’s best friends with Tom, a skinny nerd 🤓. Together they play Zombieland 🧟♀️ 🧟♂️ on Xbox 🎮 and they have their own chicken 🐔 nugget eating record. Max has a crush on Naïs who is consistently described as pretty.
At school there is assigned seating and of course Max has been assigned to sit next to his arch nemesis, Raoul. Max recounts gym dramas and other classes he attends. There’s a field trip to the retirement home, exchange students visit from England 🏴 and there’s a field trip to the Eiffel Tower. There are also visits to Max’s grandparents, skiing ⛷ and parties 🎈to plan and attend. During the school year there is an ongoing mystery of who is responsible for the graffiti on the wall on the way to school and how the artist knows so much about Max.
So, with all of this happening why wasn’t this a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book 📖? There wasn’t the humour I expected. The main character barely had a personality. There were cute illustrations and emoji overload, but I’m not desperately needing to read the second book 📖 in this series. Perhaps this one was just setting the groundwork for future incredible stories. Maybe some of the humour got lost in the translation.
What it boiled down to for me was that this book 📖 was just okay 👌. I’m not jumping up and down excited 😆 about my new discovery but I also made it to the end so it didn’t completely suck either. I may relent and try the second book 📖 (maybe) but it won’t have the honour of going straight to the top of the TBR pile.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book 📖.
There’s a dire warning ⚠️ about not reading this book 📖 until 2126 with the threat of such cool 😎 stuff as hundreds of tarantulas 🕷 jumping out of massive black blisters on your hands 🤚. I read the warning ⚠️ page and got my hopes up but it turned out that this was the only page that really showed the kind of personality I’ve come to expect in diary format kid’s books 📚.
It’s not like nothing happened. We follow Max, who’s 11, through his first year at middle school. Max lives in France 🇫🇷 with his parents and sisters Marion, who’s 14 and super annoying and Lisa, who’s 8 and the favourite child. He’s best friends with Tom, a skinny nerd 🤓. Together they play Zombieland 🧟♀️ 🧟♂️ on Xbox 🎮 and they have their own chicken 🐔 nugget eating record. Max has a crush on Naïs who is consistently described as pretty.
At school there is assigned seating and of course Max has been assigned to sit next to his arch nemesis, Raoul. Max recounts gym dramas and other classes he attends. There’s a field trip to the retirement home, exchange students visit from England 🏴 and there’s a field trip to the Eiffel Tower. There are also visits to Max’s grandparents, skiing ⛷ and parties 🎈to plan and attend. During the school year there is an ongoing mystery of who is responsible for the graffiti on the wall on the way to school and how the artist knows so much about Max.
So, with all of this happening why wasn’t this a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book 📖? There wasn’t the humour I expected. The main character barely had a personality. There were cute illustrations and emoji overload, but I’m not desperately needing to read the second book 📖 in this series. Perhaps this one was just setting the groundwork for future incredible stories. Maybe some of the humour got lost in the translation.
What it boiled down to for me was that this book 📖 was just okay 👌. I’m not jumping up and down excited 😆 about my new discovery but I also made it to the end so it didn’t completely suck either. I may relent and try the second book 📖 (maybe) but it won’t have the honour of going straight to the top of the TBR pile.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book 📖.
March 14, 2018
I read this along with my ten year old daughter whom is in gifted classes and she LOVED this book! We usually have a hard time finding books to catch her attention but she really enjoyed this one. I thought it was a fun read for kids!
April 18, 2018
Follow the middle school misadventures of Max, as recorded in his hilarious Diary of a Wimpy Kid–style journal that is unconventionally illustrated with the internationally recognized emoticons of the SmileyWorld brand.
Age Level: 8-12 Grade Level: 3rd and up
Warning: Do not read before 2126! My Life in Smiley: It's All Good is meant strictly for people of the future, chronicling the life and times of Max, an average eleven-year-old. Annoying siblings, stage fright, love at first sight—can you believe what kids in the 21st century had to deal with? Follow his illustrated diary as has embarks on a great journey—the first year of middle school in France. Max’s journal entries, humorous drawings, and colorful smileys recount his adventures in making new friends, dealing with bullies, and surviving a ruthless P.E. teacher. Along the way, Max starts to figure out how to interact with his peers, and he realizes that at the end of the day, no matter what life throws at him, it’s all good!
Out April 2018
MY THOUGHTS:
I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
Have you all noticed how grim and depressing a lot of books are lately that are geared toward pre-teens, teens and young adults. There's always some cringe factor involved...
This book does not have these elements! It's a coming of age about a boy in France written in diary form. Humor? Eh! Not so much but it does set the groundwork for any future writings. I love this kid--he's normal, which is so rare today as kids seem so complicated by society to fit in, be anti-parental, rebel, chill and not care... It was honestly great to read about a normal, boring life this kid had, even in a place like France.
The way the book was put together, in diary format, was enticing and cute and I can see its attraction to kids around the ages of eight to twelve. Not complicated, yet fun!
This would be a great read for parent/child too. It's a fast read, with relatable topics, factors common in similarly formatted books. This book would appeal to boys, but also girls, and do so without stress-filled pages.
The world is full of stress and worry and this book is a great escape. The use of emoji's compliments the story-lines, adding humor and driving the plot forward. The MC is a typical kid with all the quirks and hang-ups that goes along with being eleven, attending school and being a 'nerd.' I was attracted to the premise of the book and since I love emoji's, it's a win win for me!
I would recommend this book to anyone!
Age Level: 8-12 Grade Level: 3rd and up
Warning: Do not read before 2126! My Life in Smiley: It's All Good is meant strictly for people of the future, chronicling the life and times of Max, an average eleven-year-old. Annoying siblings, stage fright, love at first sight—can you believe what kids in the 21st century had to deal with? Follow his illustrated diary as has embarks on a great journey—the first year of middle school in France. Max’s journal entries, humorous drawings, and colorful smileys recount his adventures in making new friends, dealing with bullies, and surviving a ruthless P.E. teacher. Along the way, Max starts to figure out how to interact with his peers, and he realizes that at the end of the day, no matter what life throws at him, it’s all good!
Out April 2018
MY THOUGHTS:
I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
Have you all noticed how grim and depressing a lot of books are lately that are geared toward pre-teens, teens and young adults. There's always some cringe factor involved...
This book does not have these elements! It's a coming of age about a boy in France written in diary form. Humor? Eh! Not so much but it does set the groundwork for any future writings. I love this kid--he's normal, which is so rare today as kids seem so complicated by society to fit in, be anti-parental, rebel, chill and not care... It was honestly great to read about a normal, boring life this kid had, even in a place like France.
The way the book was put together, in diary format, was enticing and cute and I can see its attraction to kids around the ages of eight to twelve. Not complicated, yet fun!
This would be a great read for parent/child too. It's a fast read, with relatable topics, factors common in similarly formatted books. This book would appeal to boys, but also girls, and do so without stress-filled pages.
The world is full of stress and worry and this book is a great escape. The use of emoji's compliments the story-lines, adding humor and driving the plot forward. The MC is a typical kid with all the quirks and hang-ups that goes along with being eleven, attending school and being a 'nerd.' I was attracted to the premise of the book and since I love emoji's, it's a win win for me!
I would recommend this book to anyone!
May 3, 2018
A BIG Thank You to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me a copy of “My Life in Smiley (Book 1 in Smiley series): It’s All Good” by Anne Kalicky in exchange for my review. This is a book similar to the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series where it covers the adventures of an average boy over the period of one year in middle grade. However, I felt this book did not have the same charm or humor that the Wimpy Kid series has.
Here are the reasons that brought down my rating for this book. Firstly, there are some scenes where I felt that the humor is lost in translation. There’s a scene where Max and his English pen pal Conrad share jokes on how they imitate each other’s accents. According to Max, Conrad asks “Where is the Cantine?” with an English accent. Okay, so what? I didn’t understand what was funny. There’s another scene where Max’s dad wants to practice his English on Conrad and asks him “Where is the fromaidge”. What’s that? Perhaps the author should have made a few edits on the jokes for English language readers to enjoy.
Furthermore, there were some scenes that I just couldn’t connect to. For instance, Max’s mom sends him a text message to come for dinner, even though they are in the same house. Is this a new age trend that people follow by texting their children while staying under the same roof? Then there were other scenes that were just repetitious and annoying. Ironically, Max doesn’t even realize how annoying HE is when repeatedly describes how annoying his sister Marion is.
However, the main important reason why I didn’t enjoy this book was due to the illustrations. I felt most of the illustrations were mediocre and done in a hurry. The illustrations in the Wimpy Kid series are very neat, with bold outlines that are consistent and strike the reader. The illustrations in this book were squiggly, scratchy, and had a lot of rough shading that looked very haphazard. Perhaps it was to done to show that it is a journal of an actual 11 year old, but I didn’t enjoy it. The author over uses smileys at times and I started skipping them entirely in an attempt to finish the book.
The only reason I am giving this an average rating is because parts of the book were fun to read. I enjoyed the scenes where Max decides to get coupons as Christmas gifts for his family, and when he sings for the retirement home. In addition to that, I also liked Lisa’s character a lot! I laughed out loud when she obsesses over ‘Ben Didji” and loves receiving appendages as gifts for her birthday. Maybe this book would have been more fun if Lisa was the main character.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book as I thought I would and give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Here are the reasons that brought down my rating for this book. Firstly, there are some scenes where I felt that the humor is lost in translation. There’s a scene where Max and his English pen pal Conrad share jokes on how they imitate each other’s accents. According to Max, Conrad asks “Where is the Cantine?” with an English accent. Okay, so what? I didn’t understand what was funny. There’s another scene where Max’s dad wants to practice his English on Conrad and asks him “Where is the fromaidge”. What’s that? Perhaps the author should have made a few edits on the jokes for English language readers to enjoy.
Furthermore, there were some scenes that I just couldn’t connect to. For instance, Max’s mom sends him a text message to come for dinner, even though they are in the same house. Is this a new age trend that people follow by texting their children while staying under the same roof? Then there were other scenes that were just repetitious and annoying. Ironically, Max doesn’t even realize how annoying HE is when repeatedly describes how annoying his sister Marion is.
However, the main important reason why I didn’t enjoy this book was due to the illustrations. I felt most of the illustrations were mediocre and done in a hurry. The illustrations in the Wimpy Kid series are very neat, with bold outlines that are consistent and strike the reader. The illustrations in this book were squiggly, scratchy, and had a lot of rough shading that looked very haphazard. Perhaps it was to done to show that it is a journal of an actual 11 year old, but I didn’t enjoy it. The author over uses smileys at times and I started skipping them entirely in an attempt to finish the book.
The only reason I am giving this an average rating is because parts of the book were fun to read. I enjoyed the scenes where Max decides to get coupons as Christmas gifts for his family, and when he sings for the retirement home. In addition to that, I also liked Lisa’s character a lot! I laughed out loud when she obsesses over ‘Ben Didji” and loves receiving appendages as gifts for her birthday. Maybe this book would have been more fun if Lisa was the main character.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book as I thought I would and give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
December 16, 2019
This books was goofy funny, but my kids loved it when they saw me reading it and looked over my shoulder. They wanted me to get a copy for them, since I wasn't willing to give them my computer. Highly recommended for reluctant readers in upper elementary or middle school. Fun and light.
April 22, 2018
As other reviewers have noted, this book, part of a series, will appeal to fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series because the characters are close to the same age and deal with similar issues. Here, though, Max lives in France, and he has decided to write a journal to someone living in the future, perhaps himself or some other human living in the year 2126. During his school year, from April to June, Max deals with the challenges of physical education, an obnoxious classmate named Raoul, a crush on a girl, a visit from an English pen pal, his annoying older sister, and strangely relevant graffiti on the wall of a secret passage he and his friend Tom use when heading to or from school. Readers may enjoy the situations in which Max finds himself even while he does occasionally display some self-awareness and kindness. They are likely to appreciate the yellow highlighting of important words and the use of the smiley symbol throughout the book. I remember going through my own phase of highlighting long ago, and I would almost completely paint each page. My favorite section concerned Max's decision to collect coupons as holiday gifts. It wasn't a bad idea, but things go awry when the wrong coupons go to the wrong family members. It will be interesting to see how this character develops, but I felt as though this particular ground has been pretty heavily trodden by all the Wimpy Kid wannabes that have gone before.
March 30, 2018
My Life in Smiley is to be a series of diary-style books following Max, a middle school kid from France. Max knows he'll grow up and do something amazing to benefit mankind, but until then, he's chronicling his life so that future humans in 2126 can see what it was like.
The real hook for this series is the use of Smiley stickers, which are cleverly used to elevate the storytelling. Sections of the book are highlighted in yellow or have colorful emojis sprinkled throughout to clue you in on the emotional mood of our hero, Max. I think these visual elements do a good job of holding your attention and keep the pages turning.
This was good for a few giggles, but I felt let down by the overall book. My Life in Smiley provided no new twists or surprises to the diary-story format that would compel me to re-read this, or pick up the following books.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions and comments I share about this story are my own.
The real hook for this series is the use of Smiley stickers, which are cleverly used to elevate the storytelling. Sections of the book are highlighted in yellow or have colorful emojis sprinkled throughout to clue you in on the emotional mood of our hero, Max. I think these visual elements do a good job of holding your attention and keep the pages turning.
This was good for a few giggles, but I felt let down by the overall book. My Life in Smiley provided no new twists or surprises to the diary-story format that would compel me to re-read this, or pick up the following books.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions and comments I share about this story are my own.
February 15, 2024
Hey y'all! I life portrayed in a diary format completely overrun with emojis!!😦 Oh m'gosh! Now isn't that SuPeR fun?! I mean, c'mon!! A life portrayed by a sixth grader with a nerd for a friend, two annoying sisters, girl issues, bully problems, weird challenges, exchange students, it's in France, AND it is completely drowned in emojis and neon yellow things?! What's not to love? I thought the overall story was cute, and yes, the emojis were the point of the book, but doesn't ANYBODY ELSE THINK THERE WERE WAY TOO MANY EMOJIS?! Now, YES, I know this was written to embrace the emojis, but really. 30 emojis on every page? That's a little much! Anyway... 🙄😦😊😜😐😁!! Imma spam emojis!! 😁🙂😐😶😏😯😮😛😲😦😧😸🙀🐱🦄🐈⬛🐟🐤🐧🥯🍕🥨🧁!! :)
February 19, 2024
I thought it was fine, I mean, okay plot, but I thought it was supposed to be a book with like, a BUNCH of emoji, specifically smiley faces! 🙃😊☺️😄😃☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️😄😊😃😆😂😁🤩🙂😐😌😜😛🤤😒🥴😇🥹🫣🫢🤭
I read this through my kindle, so it wasn't as good as a real BOOK, if that makes sense! Like, the turning of pages, etc... But that's probably just me, because I read a lot of books on my kindle!
Four stars, cute, would recommend, and would read again!!😌🙂😊😄
I read this through my kindle, so it wasn't as good as a real BOOK, if that makes sense! Like, the turning of pages, etc... But that's probably just me, because I read a lot of books on my kindle!
Four stars, cute, would recommend, and would read again!!😌🙂😊😄
February 12, 2018
"A painful, predictable failure," indeed. Takes all the weaker elements of these youthful diary/confessional books, and adds colour. The main character is hardly likeable, the plot barely there. DNF.
April 10, 2018
not as entertaining as the "Amelia" series by Marissa Moss
August 31, 2018
I was hoping for the next Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I was sorely disappointed. I found it boring and not funny at all.
October 3, 2018
My 7 year old son LOVED this book. He says it was “very fun!!” He wants me to add emojis to the review so....
😍🤪😉😊
😍🤪😉😊
January 6, 2019
Probably more of a 3.5. Cute but needs a little more development in parts.
June 20, 2020
C'est gentil, c'est mignon, c'est super pour de tout jeunes ados, je pense. Un très bon moment de lecture. J'ai beaucoup aimé le personnage du meilleur ami.
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May 10, 2021BOTH
November 11, 2024
Mean spirited and humorless. Hard pass.
April 13, 2018
What do My Life in Smiley- It’s All Good, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Dork Diaries all have in common? They utilize journals and middle school humor in order to keep kids interested and engaged. These novels are extremely popular due to their fast readability and relatable topics which My Life in Smiley also includes. Children who love this type of writing will immediately gravitate towards this book. The main character, Maxime, is from France. He writes about average, eleven year old problems in diary form, while introducing the reader to the French culture. Normandy, All Saints Day and Place de la Concorde are mentioned and explained which may be new to young readers. Strong vocabulary words like “rendezvous”, “predicament” and “renouncing” are used throughout yet is contrasted with humorous emojis and child-like illustrations that breathe life into the storyline. Just like children text each other using emojis to further explain their feelings, Max does this in the book. The only criticism is that the transition between problems happens too rapidly. For example, Max complains about an issue involving his sister and then in the next paragraph, but same diary entry, he discusses the upcoming chorus concert, with no segue in between the two. It can be confusing to the reader when the plot jumps around so quickly in this manner. If kids love to read stories about relatable, young person issues, mixed with new knowledge about French culture, intertwined with humorous illustrations, My Life in Smiley- It’s All Good is the book in which they have been searching.
December 3, 2019
I was "fortunate" enough to be given a book called My Life In Smiley by Anne Kalicky from an awesome company named NetGalley. I did this in exchange for an honest review. This is a cool opportunity that I had and will continue to do reviews with. This book comes out April 3 of this year, so it was really cool that I was one of the first people to read it, no matter what I felt about the book.
The story is about a new 6th grader, 5th when the story starts, and his troubles at middle school. It involves gym class, art class, pen pals, and all kinds of other things that you see and do during middle school. It was written in a journal (diary) for future humans.This all sounds good, but the original thoughts were very misleading.
Frankly, the book was not good. The "back-of-book" description that I received made it sound like it was going to be something exciting in another type of universe, whereas it was really just a 5th/6th graders diary that was just a message to future humans. Which is cute, but it doesn't actually add anything. It also seems very Diary of a Wimpy Kid-esque. By that I mean it has weird drawings in it and way too large of a font. The large font and humongous pictures made a two-hundred-ten-page book take a total of three or four hours to read. Personally, I believe many things about the book were misleading and it didn't have much of a story. It was mainly an ordinary life, with no twists. The author had actually tried to add a twist, but it was a part of the non-existent story that I personally didn't really care for or about.
I do not at all recommend this book. The description, that once again only I received (not the same as on this site) is misleading and there is almost no important or vital storyline. For kids who haven't quite made it to middle school, this over makes a lot of parts way more dramatic than needed. Frankly, it will probably just end making the kid worry about unrealistic problems. This is one of the few books I have ever come across that I did not like. Maybe I am so disliking of it because my expectations were raised too high (because of the publisher/author's description) but I still am not a fan.
Check out my blog at: https://dragons-lair-book-blog.blogsp... (They are not all negative. I promise!)
The story is about a new 6th grader, 5th when the story starts, and his troubles at middle school. It involves gym class, art class, pen pals, and all kinds of other things that you see and do during middle school. It was written in a journal (diary) for future humans.This all sounds good, but the original thoughts were very misleading.
Frankly, the book was not good. The "back-of-book" description that I received made it sound like it was going to be something exciting in another type of universe, whereas it was really just a 5th/6th graders diary that was just a message to future humans. Which is cute, but it doesn't actually add anything. It also seems very Diary of a Wimpy Kid-esque. By that I mean it has weird drawings in it and way too large of a font. The large font and humongous pictures made a two-hundred-ten-page book take a total of three or four hours to read. Personally, I believe many things about the book were misleading and it didn't have much of a story. It was mainly an ordinary life, with no twists. The author had actually tried to add a twist, but it was a part of the non-existent story that I personally didn't really care for or about.
I do not at all recommend this book. The description, that once again only I received (not the same as on this site) is misleading and there is almost no important or vital storyline. For kids who haven't quite made it to middle school, this over makes a lot of parts way more dramatic than needed. Frankly, it will probably just end making the kid worry about unrealistic problems. This is one of the few books I have ever come across that I did not like. Maybe I am so disliking of it because my expectations were raised too high (because of the publisher/author's description) but I still am not a fan.
Check out my blog at: https://dragons-lair-book-blog.blogsp... (They are not all negative. I promise!)
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May 17, 2019Very good 👍
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews