Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck is the eighth book in the reading Wimpy Kid series, following The Third Wheel, and 14th overall. After finishing the seventh book, Jeff Kinney announced that he was working on the eighth book. On 8 August, 2013, the cover's color, title and a synopsis were revealed, and the book was released on November 5th, 2013.This was the second book since Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days which continued a situtation which happened in the ending of its predecessor,Dog Days revealed what happened when Greg and Rowley invited Trista and this revealed that Rowley

Main Characters

 * Greg Heffley
 * Rowley Jefferson (main antagonist)
 * Rodrick Heffley
 * Abigail Brown
 * Manny Heffley
 * Frank Heffley
 * Susan Heffley

March
Greg is upset over losing Rowley as his best friend, though his mother tells him that friends come and go. Since Rowley Jefferson and Abigail Brown became a couple at the end of the  previous book the two friends have become more and more distant, very noticably even within nine and a half days. There were many things Greg and Rowley used to do together, such as blow bubbles with chocolate milk cartons that they can't do now, because Abigail disapproves of it. Greg doesn't like how Abigail is trying to shape Rowley, and even believe she is starting to use him. Greg states it gets to the point where Rowley isn't allowed his own opinions anymore, but is simply just following Abigail's. Many plans, such as a snowball fight on a nice day, haven't gone ahead, and when Greg confronts Rowley, he taunts Greg by telling him he's just jealous that he has a girlfriend. Also, Rowley is the only one who can bail Greg out of the fact his English teacher, Mr. Blakely, only accepts essays written in cursive, but also, usually, Rowley scouts ahead and checks for any dog poop whilst they are walking to school, but without Rowley, Greg is having to watch out for the poop himself and avoid a very nasty Rottweiler whilst walking to school. And then Abigail starts using Rowley to carry her books. Greg used to use Rowley to do the same thing.

Greg finds a solution to his book problem - a roller bag. He is able to get to school fast, but there are a few dangers between home and school, such as an angry neighbour who's front lawn got ripped up as a result of a game Greg and Rowley played last winter and woods full of the Mingo kids, who are like wild animals. Mom notices Greg and Rowley have stopped hanging out and gives Greg some advice. Greg, after reading a hundred editions of Slumber Party Pals, he realises that girl friendships and boy friendships are different. He then explains bad things about his lunch table like the five-second rule where anyone can eat anything if it is not on the ground for five or more seconds.Then he explains the problems in his lunch room, he criticizes the burger and fries that they get on Friday and how Nolan Tiago gets food from a fast-food place and how everybody would fight for getting the fries which fall out of his box and explains the problem with seats in his lunchroom.Greg and Rowley once went cycling in the basketball court and a kid called Leon used to kick them out of it and bully them.Greg and Rowley's moms made them join "The Superhero Training Academy" which turned out be a scam for little children.Then they learnt that there powers were totally useless.Greg then talks about the different groups of people who hang out in recess, including Erick Glick, a kid who hangs around with his "sketchy" friends and he would give any person a old book report or homework assignment if they pay him.Then Greg talks about how the bully-reporting station (from Cabin Fever) turned into "Find a Friend" station.No kid came, but a teacher Mr. Nern came and played checkers with him.Greg then starts feeling bad that even his younger brother Manny has friend and grandfather also has a girlfriend and lots of women trying to win him over.Then he explains how Susan trys to get Greg to make friends by having him have a playdate with her old mate's son who turned out be a highschool senior.She gives Greg advices to make friends and be popular but these didn't help Greg since it was not what was considered popular in Greg's school.Then the school came up with a system called "Hero Point" which was awarded to a child if he was found being kind to someone else and these could be exchanged for prizes.Then the  kids started faking it and Glick got hands on a sheet of it and photocopied it and sold it for money.Soon the teachers got suspicious that even the worst kids got loads of them, so they started printing them in different colors of paper but that didn't work and they started a rule that only a limited amount can be used at a time.Even the children who got more then that amount legitimately were given detentions.

Cover
The cover is lime green, and has magic eight balls raining depicted with Greg dodging them with a book (most likely his diary).



Trivia

 * This book was first announced in the final pages of The Third Wheel.
 * On 25 March 2013, Jeff Kinney revealed the book's teaser, which had Greg with an umbrella while  Magic Eight Balls fall around him.
 * On July 18, 2013, it was announced the cover would be revealed on August 8th, 2013.
 * Before the title of the book was revealed, there were several rumors about what the book would be called, including Life Stress, Flipped Out, Spring Bummer and a fake cover called "School Dilemma".
 * This is the second book with the word "Diary"  not being yellow, the first was Dog Days.
 * The word "of a Wimpy Kid" is not blue or red like the other books, instead it's orange.
 * It was rumored for a while that the book would be the final one in the series, until jeff kinney said that it wouldn't be.
 * This is the third time that Greg and Rowley have a big falling out. The first was in the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid after Greg got Rowley in trouble about the safety patrols and lied about it, and the second being in The Ugly Truth when they have a big fight over the events towards the end of Dog Days.
 * The phone Susan has is possibly an iPhone.
 * Many things from Dog Days make a reappearance in this book - Sweetie is seen again, as well as the Ladybug.
 * In Greg's maths problem, the answer is 62. Equations like that are generally sixth-grade questions. This could mean Greg isn't very good at maths at all.
 * On Page 29, Rowley closes his mouth for the second time in the book series, the first being page 166 of The Third Wheel.
 * Mrs. Norton also makes another appearance. She hasn't appeared since the first book.
 * Many things that haven't appeared since early series reappear in this book.