Winger: Compare and Contrast

Winger is a young adult fiction novel written by American author Andrew Smith. Set in the prestigious boarding school, Pine Mountain, Oregon, the story follows fourteen-year-old Ryan Dean West as he recounts past events that he has experienced in his journey of maturation. It's a great book about the everyday challenges of a boy in high school.

While reading Winger I noticed a lot of similarities between it and Diary of A Wimpy Kid. In both books the main characters aren't very popular among other students, they both have a crush on a popular and pretty girl, and they have an unsteady relationship with their close friends. Some main differences are, Greg from Diary of A Wimpy Kid is extremely confident and selfish where Ryan Dean is modest and very caring towards others. Another really big difference is Greg isn't athletic at all and Ryan Dean is a main player in his schools rugby team. I've found that Ryan Dean is a very likable character because I can sympathize with him and relate, also because he's so honest that you can't really find reason to hate him. Sure he does some dumb stuff but we've all been there and done that. While on the other hand you just want to roll your eyes at Greg's "macho" additude; he behaves as though he is the only normal student at his school and everyone else has a problem not himself. While Ryan feels outcast and small, you just want to reassure him and tell him everything's okay.