Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Same diary-and-doodles format from a girl's perspective — Nikki Maxwell is Greg's female counterpart, equally image-obsessed and equally blind to her own absurdity

Another middle school anti-hero with delusions of grandeur, but Nate has genuine talent (cartooning) that Greg lacks — showing what happens when ego has a foundation

The original sibling-rivalry children's novel — Peter Hatcher and Fudge laid the template for Greg and Manny decades earlier

Another story about a boy navigating an unjust hierarchy — but Stanley Yelnats actually grows, providing a contrast to Greg's deliberate stagnation

Another hybrid text-illustration series with morally ambiguous protagonists trying to climb a social ladder — villains who want to be heroes, just as Greg wants to be popular

Shares the middle-school-survival premise and illustrated format, but with higher stakes and a protagonist who rebels against the system rather than trying to game it