The author relates his experiences growing up in Harlem, the home of Sugar Ray Robinson and Langston Hughes, in the 1940s and 1950s.

"Even as a kid, everyone thought Jeff Kinney was talented. People loved his drawings, and when he went to college, his comic strip Igdoof was so popular that it spread to other universities! Still, Jeff faced challenges. His cartoons were rejected by syndicates that claimed his art was unprofessional. Then, an idea struck: Jeff would write a journal from the perspective of a child, illustrated with doodles just like a kid might do. And so, the Diary...

"Alex again has to write stories to survive, this time learning to finish discarded ideas and overcome writer's block, after he's held hostage in his dreams by fear vampire Simeon, working alongside evil witch Natacha in a story graveyard"-- When Natacha, the witch who held him captive for scary stories, appears again one night, Alex realizes he's trapped in a nightmare-- literally. She's found a way to enter his dreams with a new, terrifying familiar...