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Diary of a Wimpy Kid (book)

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the first book of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. It is about a boy named Greg Heffley, a 6th grade pupil who tries to become popular in his middle school. The diary relates his memories of events that happened during 6th grade, namely his experience with the 'Cheese Touch' curse, a local myth in his class.[1]

Plot

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The book is a diary written by the fictional main character of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg Heffley, recounting his adventures as a sixth grader at Larry Mack Middle School.[1] His personal goal is to become popular. He also dreams of becoming rich and famous, which he says middle school is not helping achieve this goal:[2]

"Like I said, I'll be famous one day, but for now I'm stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons." - Greg Heffley

Greg describes the local myth about a moldy piece of cheese that has been left at his school's basketball court for a long time. A pupil named Darren Walsh touched it and started what is called the "cheese touch".According to this belief, if someone touches the cheese, they will have the curse-like "Cheese Touch" which makes them repellent to others, the victim is stuck with it until they pass it on by touching someone else. The only way to not get the cheese touch is to cross your fingers when a contaminated person touches you.[3]

He later introduces his older brother Rodrick Heffley, who plays the drums, his little brother Manny Heffley, who is spoilt by his family, and his best friend Rowley Jefferson.

In October, after taking inspiration from Crosslands High School's haunted house, they decide to create their own in the basement of Rowley's house. However, they are both caught after a frightened kid went under the bed. The house is then shut down, and Rowley is grounded.[1]After Rowley is released, they go on a trip for Halloween. However, they get ambushed by a group of teenagers on the way, and barely manage to escape.[4]

In November, Greg's PE teacher states that they have started their wrestling unit. Because he is lightweight, he is paired with Fregley. Greg asks his parents to get him a bench press so he can move up a weight class.[5] However, he gets his bench press on Christmas. At the same time, Greg's mom, Susan, decides to have him try out for a play of The Wizard of Oz as a tree, which results in a disaster.[1]On Christmas, Greg asks for a video game called Twisted Wizard. When he finally does get his bench press, he loses interest in it as the unit ended a week ago.[6]By mistake, he also gets a sweater as well instead of his video game. Susan had accidentally mixed up Greg's gift with another person's gift, called the Giving Tree guy. Therefore, he goes to Rowley's house to see what things he received for Christmas. [7]

In January, Greg invents a game where he goes and throws a football at Greg's Big Wheel ridden on by Rowley. However, Rowley breaks his hand after an accident with the football. Rowley gets a lot of sympathy after that. Greg later signs up for a class called Independent Study. His class is assigned to build a robot. However, the class is cancelled after Greg's team writes a list of words the robot should not say.[1]The same day, they also sign up to be the Safety Patrol in charge of making sure that the children could cross safely through the streets.

When the school paper advertises for a cartoonist, Greg accepts the offer. Greg and Rowley both create cartoons that end with "Zoo-Wee-Mama!". Greg creates a character named "Creighton the Cretin" and wins after submitting a few samples.[1]However, a teacher Mr. Ira edits Greg's comic so it promotes math.

In March, after Greg chases a group of kindergartners with a worm on a stick and is mistaken for Rowley, Greg places the blame on Rowley, who gets suspended from the Safety Patrol for a week. However, Rowley reveals the truth and Greg's role as the Safety Patrol is revoked. Rowley then becomes friends with a pupil named Collin Lee.[1] After Rowley and Collin have a sleepover, Greg tries a sleepover with Fregley. The sleepover ends badly. Therefore, Greg decides to be called "Class clown".[8]

In May, when his history teacher announces that they will be temporarily replaced by a substitute, Greg considers it the perfect opportunity to play a trick, but his plan fails when his mother shows up as the supply teacher.[1]Rowley also becomes the new cartoonist of "Zoo-Wee-Mama!". The two friends nearly fight after Greg accuses Rowley of disregarding his contributions to the comic strip. During the fight, the teenagers from Halloween who chased them at Halloween force Rowley to eat the moldy cheese, when Greg avoids by lying that he is lactose intolerant. Greg takes the blame for it when someone notices it is missing. Greg and Rowley start hanging out again in June, and when the award of "Class clown" is given to Rowley, Greg throws his yearbook in the trash.[1]

Sequels

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As of 2024, the eighteen sequels that have been published as part of the series are, in order of publication date:

  1. Rodrick Rules (2008)
  2. The Last Straw (2009)
  3. Dog Days (2009)
  4. The Ugly Truth (2010)
  5. Cabin Fever (2011)
  6. The Third Wheel (2012)
  7. Hard Luck (2013)
  8. The Long Haul (2014)
  9. Old School (2015)
  10. Double Down (2016)
  11. The Getaway (2017)
  12. The Meltdown (2018)
  13. Wrecking Ball (2019)
  14. The Deep End (2020)
  15. Big Shot (2021)
  16. Diper Överlöde (2022)
  17. No Brainer (2023)
  18. Hot Mess (2024)

Reception

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In 2012, the book was ranked number 76 on a list of the top 100 children's novels published by School Library Journal.[9]

Awards

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid has won numerous awards, including the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Book, and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award.[1]

Film adaptations

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Main articles: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021)

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Full Book Summary | SparkNotes". SparkNotes. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  2. ↑ Kinney, Jeff (August 21, 2008). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Puffin. pp. page=2. ISBN 9780141324906. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Missing pipe in: |pages= (help)
  3. ↑ Kinney, Jeff (August 21, 2008). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Puffin. pp. page=9. ISBN 9780141324906. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Missing pipe in: |pages= (help)
  4. ↑ Kinney, Jeff (August 21, 2008). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Puffin. pp. pages=61, 70–71. ISBN 9780141324906. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Missing pipe in: |pages= (help)
  5. ↑ Kinney, Jeff (August 21, 2008). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Puffin. pp. pages=85, 86. ISBN 9780141324906. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Missing pipe in: |pages= (help)
  6. ↑ Kinney, Jeff (August 21, 2008). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Puffin. pp. page=126. ISBN 9780141324906. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Missing pipe in: |pages= (help)
  7. ↑ Kinney, Jeff (2015). Diary of a wimpy kid: Greg Heffley's journal: [a novel in cartoons]. Diary of a wimpy kid (Reissued ed.). London etc.: Puffin. ISBN 978-0-14-132490-6.
  8. ↑ Kinney, Jeff (August 21, 2008). Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Puffin. pp. page=200. ISBN 9780141324906. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Missing pipe in: |pages= (help)
  9. ↑ "Top 100 Chapter Book Poll Results « A Fuse #8 Production". web.archive.org. 2012-07-13. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2025-05-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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