Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw is the 3rd book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It was released on January 13, 2009, and was partly adapted into the Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days film, which premiered on August 3, 2012. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw succeeds Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules and precedes Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.

Major characters

 * Greg Heffley
 * Frank Heffley
 * Rodrick Heffley
 * Manny Heffley
 * Susan Heffley
 * Rowley Jefferson
 * Holly Hills

Plot
The book starts on New Year's Day, and Greg Heffley writes about his family and their New Year's resolutions. His father, Frank, is "SUPER cranky" due to not eating chocolate, waking Greg up early. Greg wears his mother's bathrobe in the morning and wishes that he would have got his own for Christmas, having received a Laundry Hoop, which he considers to be a chore and extra responsibility.

Greg and Rowley read that their bus route has been rezoned and that they must walk to school. Greg then writes that Frank "scored a pretty big victory" when his arch-enemy, a bad teenager named Lenwood Heath, was sent to military academy. He then discusses Manny and the books his mother, Susan, reads to him at bed time; he thinks they are easy to write and make a lot of money, so he makes his own entitled Wise Up, Mr. Shropsharp!

Frank disapproves of Greg's laziness when he tries to use the Force to levitate the TV remote and sends him outside. Greg remembers a story by Albert Sandy about someone who jumped in a hole for days so he could jump higher, and considers doing it to evade bullies. Susan stops him, so he goes up to Rowley's house, passing Fregley on the way. When the cold weather prevents them from digging very deep, Greg changes his mind and buries a time capsule instead.

Greg notices that the bathrobe is gone and suspects Frank of taking it; he also writes that Frank threw away Manny's pacifiers, and that Manny was calmed down with Tingy, a blanket he got for his first birthday. Greg and Rowley are tired of walking to school and get a ride from Susan, who embarrasses Greg in front of Holly Hills, a girl Greg has been trying to make a good impression on. Greg then starts walking to school again, getting a piggyback ride from Rowley. He then talks about his love of naps and that he naps as soon as he gets home from school, which he suspects Frank does not approve of, especially when they start having a negative impact on his grades.

One of Greg's teachers, Mrs. Craig, is upset when her dictionary is missing and makes Patty Farrell monitor the class, also keeping them inside for recess. When a few students start interrogating others, Greg and some others asks Alex Aruda for help. After being paid five dollars, Alex reveals that he was reading the dictionary; Corey Lamb puts it back, only to be caught by Mrs. Craig as the "thief," and have to stay inside during recess.

In February, Greg finds that he has no treats in his lunch at school. Susan explains that she always buys enough snacks to last for a week, and Greg suspects that someone is stealing the snacks. He first investigates his older brother Rodrick's room, and hides in a cabinet when Rodrick comes in and starts talking to Ward on the phone. When the phone's battery dies, Greg leaves the room. The next day, Susan is sent Greg's report card, and Greg invites Gramma for dinner, knowing that Frank will not get angry when Gramma is around. He follows Gramma to Bingo, hoping to earn money, only to be "intimidated" by a lady after he announces a win that turns out to be invalid.

After falling asleep in class and getting detention, Greg is "totally jittery from [his] sugar withdrawal" and digs up the time capsule to buy candy from the convenience store. He serves detention and is sat in front of a bully named Leon Ricket, who starts bothering Greg. Greg gets Leon in trouble when he claps loudly and shouts while the detention supervisor, Mr. Ray, has his back turned.

Greg decides to find out who is stealing his snacks and hides in a laundry basket. He falls asleep, but then wakes up and catches Frank eating. The next day, Frank is invited to Seth Snella's half-birthday party in June, which he dreads due to a tradition in which the adults attempt to make the baby laugh. Meanwhile, Greg looks for clean clothes to wear and is required to make and give valentines in preparation for the Valentine's Day Dance; he writes insulting notes on each of them, including one for himself so the teacher does not get suspicious. At the dance, Greg walks to Holly Hills and is interrupted by Fregley, then gets a valentine from Rowley.

In March, Manny is upset when Frank throws away Tingy, using Frank's Civil War Battlefield as a playset and calling Greg "Ploopy." On Easter, the Heffleys go to Church, and Greg's pants are stained when he sits on Manny's chocolate Easter bunny. Susan gives him her Easter sweater to wear around his pants, and they sit next to Uncle Joe and three rows ahead of Holly. Greg is bored and whispers "Ploopy" to Manny, causing him to start crying, and they leave Church early.

Susan bans the word "Ploopy," and Frank signs Greg up for a soccer team. When Greg and his teammates have to choose a name, Greg suggests "Twisted Wizards," while the others settle on Red Sox, and finally Red Socks. Greg gets in trouble when he plays a joke on his coach, Mr. Litch. He asks Frank to take him out of soccer, but he refuses. Greg chooses to learn how to do his laundry soon, being almost out of clean clothes to wear, and is invited to a sleepover with Rowley and his karate friends on Pleasant Street. He remembers that Holly is having a sleepover then, and that she lives in the same neighborhood, and accepts.

Before attending the party, Greg is assigned the role of "Shag" on his soccer team, being the person who retrieves the ball if it goes out of bounds. Greg does not enjoy the sleepover, annoyed by the "dopey party games" and being unable to fall asleep. He gets in trouble again after a soccer game, when the team has to go out to celebrate their win.

On April Fool's Day, Greg talks about some pranks he and Rodrick have played. When an adult volunteers to be the shag, Greg sits on the bench for the entire game. At school, he wears his Speedo as underwear, and is reminded of the Wonder Woman Underoos that Uncle Charlie gave him. When everyone is now forced to play soccer, Greg applies to be the assistant goalie, and enjoys not having to play until the regular goalie is injured. He gets distracted and causes his team to lose the game.

Frank takes Greg and Rodrick to see a movie, and the usher is Lenwood Heath, who is now more well-behaved after attending Spag Union Military Academy. Frank plans to send Greg to Spag Union, and Greg is worried about having no summer vacation, being bullied by older students, and the showers out in the open. He joins the Boy Scouts in Troop 133 to convince Frank that he does not need military training. He convinces Rowley to join, and they earn their Whittling badges, molding with soap bars instead of wood.

In May, Greg wants to take Frank on Troop 133's father-son campout, but gets sick. Frank still attends, due to signing up as a driver, and ends up with Marcus Woodley and Darren Woodley, who are sent to the emergency room. Greg then offers a do-over camping trip of him and Frank, but Susan makes Rodrick join them. They end up going to a hotel room when heavy rainfall starts. Rodrick lies to Greg that Holly is staying with them, and pushes him out the door. Greg finds Frank after waiting between the vending machines.

Greg gives up on trying to impress Frank and accepts going to Spag Union, but hopes that he can get Holly as his girlfriend before then. He speaks to her at Church, and then tries calling her, only for Rodrick to steal all the house phones. Greg uses the phone in Frank's room and hides, slowly crawling out of the room, until both he and Frank are startled when the phone rings. Greg finally brings the phone to his own room and calls Holly, and Susan picks up and talks to Holly's mother over the phone.

Greg hears about Holly going to a roller rink and meets her there. He wears his backup glasses, because he lost his contact lenses, and is unable to skate. When he gets to Holly, she confuses him for Fregley, and Greg writes, "I'm officially DONE with girls."

In June, Greg is worried about Spag Union on the last day of school. He gets his yearbook signed by various people, including Holly, and is glad she wrote his real name and now knows who he is. The day after, he attends the Snellas' half birthday party, and Frank asks him a favor to get out of embarrassing himself in front of the baby. Greg is worried when he sees Manny digging through the presents and finding a blanket that looks like Tingy. He starts telling Manny that it is not for him, and Manny throws the blanket away, landing on a tree. Greg climbs the tree to get the blanket, and his pants fall down, exposing his Wonder Woman Underoos. Frank believes that Greg did this to have him from humiliation and congratulates him.

The next day, Greg sees that Frank has changed his mind about Spag Union. He and Rowley meet a girl named Trista, and Greg plans to bring her to the country club because Rowley's family has a membership. The book finishes with Greg writing, "And I know it's really corny to end on a happy ending, but it looks like I'm out of paper anyway, so I guess this is THE END."

Errors

 * On page 33, a sentence reads, "[...]we're gonna to be in college by the time this hole is ten feet deep." "Gonna to be" should be "gonna be" or "going to be."
 * Susan says, "Right after your polish the silverware!" This error was fixed in later prints of the book, which use the correct word, "you."