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:''This article is about the book. For the article about the series, see [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)]]''
:''This article is about the book. For the article about the series, see [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)]]''
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{{Book infobox
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|film        = ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film)|Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]''
|film        = ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film)|Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]''
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'''''Diary of a Wimpy Kid''''' (subtitled '''''Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal''''' in the title page) is the 1st book in the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)|''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' series]]. It was released on April 1, 2007, and was adapted into [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film)|a movie]], which premiered on March 19, 2010. ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' succeeds ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid Online]]'' and precedes ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules]]''.
'''''Diary of a Wimpy Kid''''' (subtitled '''''Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal''''' on the title page) is the 1st book in the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)|''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' series]]. It was released on April 1, 2007, and was adapted into [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film)|a movie]], which premiered on March 19, 2010. ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' succeeds ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid Online]]'' and precedes ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules]]''.


==Main Characters==
==Major Characters==
*[[Greg Heffley]]
*[[Rodrick Heffley]]
*[[Manny Heffley]]
*[[Frank Heffley]]
*[[Frank Heffley]]
*[[Susan Heffley]]
*[[Susan Heffley]]
*[[Rodrick Heffley]]
*[[Rowley Jefferson]]
*[[Manny Heffley]]
*[[Fregley]]
*[[Fregley]]
*[[Rowley Jefferson]] (Main Antagonist)
*[[Greg Heffley]]


==Synopsis==
==Synopsis==
===September===
The book begins with [[Greg Heffley]] insisting that he is writing in a "journal" and not a "diary," saying that he asked [[Susan Heffley|his mother]] not to buy a book with "diary" on the cover. He agreed to write in it for when he's "rich and famous," although he is currently "stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons." Greg sits between [[Chris Hosey]] and [[Lionel James]], planning to sit between "hot girls" next period. The most popular student at Greg's school is [[Bryce Anderson]], and Greg himself is around "52nd or 53rd most popular." He tries to explain popularity to his best friend [[Rowley Jefferson]] (who he thinks is around the 150th most popular), but he doesn't think Rowley understands.
A 6th grader named [[Greg Heffley]] is starting middle school. He starts the book by saying that he won't be writing his "feelings" in the [[diary]], preferring to call it a journal instead of a diary and claims that if someone catches him with a book that says diary on the cover, they're gonna get the wrong idea. Greg says that the only reason he agreed to get a journal was so when he becomes rich and famous, he'll give the diary to the reporters rather than answering stupid questions about his childhood. He then reveals that it is his first day of middle school, and tells the reader that they better be careful when choosing a seat, because the teacher may say that your seats are permanent. Stuck with [[Chris Hosey]] in front of him and [[Lionel James]] behind him, Greg says that next time he's just going to sit down in the middle of a bunch of "hot girls", but ponders his decision, saying girls are complicated. He then says that [[Bryce Anderson]] is the most popular boy in his grade on the "popularity" scale. Greg says that he may be around the 52nd or 53rd mark. He tries to explain the popularity status to [[Rowley Jefferson]] but suspects that Rowley isn't really getting the message. The next day, Greg heads to the basketball court and notices the rotten piece of cheese laying on the asphalt, and he hopes that the [[Cheese Touch]] won't start again.
 
The next day, Greg notices that [[the Cheese]], a moldy piece of cheese that has been sitting on the blacktop since last spring, is still there. A student named [[Darren Walsh]] touched it and started the [[Cheese Touch]], which one has to pass on to someone else by touching them if they catch it. The only way for one to protect themselves is to cross their fingers, and Greg tapes them together to avoid catching the Cheese Touch. A student named [[Abe Hall]] got it and moved away to [[California]], ending the Cheese Touch, which Greg is glad about.
 
Greg has had trouble adjusting to waking up for school every morning, remembering that his brother [[Rodrick Heffley|Rodrick]] pranked him into thinking he slept through the entirety of summer vacation. He then gets assigned to reading groups in school and ends up in the Gifted group, despite wanting to be in the Easy group. On Saturday, Greg visits Rowley's house, although he feels that he should find a new best friend due to Rowley acting childish. Greg writes that although he can play pranks on Rowley, he could never get away with doing it on [[Manny Heffley|Manny]], his little brother. Greg dislikes that Manny calls him "Bubby," an embarrassing nickname he has been trying to get rid of.
 
Greg writes that he is very skilled at video games, although [[Frank Heffley|his father]] doesn't appreciate his "skills" and wants him to play sports instead. Greg is kicked out of the house by his father, and he goes to Rowley's house to play video games instead, running through a sprinkler to look sweaty when he returns home. Tomorrow, Greg is sent outside to play again, although he dislikes needing to walk to Rowley's because of a strange kid named [[Fregley]] who lives between Greg and Rowley. Greg says that he would have went to Rowley's house even if his father had not sent him outside, because he thinks Rodrick's band, [[Löded Diper]], is "REALLY awful" and does not want to hear them rehearsing.
 
Greg wants to listen to Rodrick's "Parental Warning" CD, so he asks Rowley to bring his CD player to school. Rowley does not have any batteries in his CD player, so Greg invents a game where they try to shake the headphones off their head as fast as possible. A teacher named [[Mrs. Craig]] tells them that rock and roll is "evil," and Rowley starts crying. Greg then plays the CD at home, forgetting to plug in his headphones and alerting his father, who grounds him from playing video games for two weeks. Rodrick gets in trouble when Manny brings in one of his heavy metal magazines, featuring "a woman in a bikini lying across the hood of a car," to his preschool's show-and-tell.
 
At school, Greg runs for Treasurer in the student government elections, thinking that everyone else will be running for positions like President and Vice President. He learns that he only has one opponent, named [[Marty Porter]]. Greg asks his father for help, and who shows posters he made when he was Greg's age. Greg likes the idea and makes insulting posters of Marty, which [[Vice Principal Roy]] takes down. Greg writes, "I guess this means my political career is officially over."
 
In October, Greg is excited for his and his father's favorite holiday; while Greg likes trick-or-treating, his father likes to hide in the bushes and drench passing teenagers with water. Greg and Rowley go to the [[Crossland High School]] haunted house, and are chased by someone in a hockey mask with a chainsaw until Greg's mother yells at him. The haunted house gives Greg and Rowley the idea to start their own in Rowley's basement. After they put up posters, they charge two dollars per person, and the first kid, [[Shane Snella]], gets scared and refuses to move. [[Robert Jefferson|Rowley's father]] comes downstairs and ends the haunted house, with Rowley being banned from having Greg over and not being allowed to watch TV.


At one point, Greg is kicked out of the house by his dad, [[Frank Heffley]], because Greg isn't getting enough exercise. So he just goes up to Rowley's house to play video games, and then runs through the neighbor's sprinkler to make it look like he had been sweating. But he had to take a shower when Susan saw Greg.
Rowley's ban ends before Halloween, and he and Greg are able to go trick-or-treating with Manny and Greg's father. They are joined by their neighbor [[Mr. Mitchell]] and his son [[Jeremy Mitchell|Jeremy]]. When Manny and Jeremy are taken home, Greg and Rowley continue trick-or-treating, and are sprayed by a teen riding in a truck with a fire extinguisher. Greg shouts that he will call the cops, and he and Rowley stay in [[Gramma]]'s house for a while, mocking the teens. They walk home along [[Snake Road]], and when they arrive at Greg's house, Greg's father soaks them with water.


Greg tries to listen to a CD with a Parental Warning sticker but is caught by [[Mrs. Craig]] at school, and by Frank at home. Greg got grounded for two weeks. He is glad when [[Rodrick Heffley|Rodrick]] gets in trouble after [[Manny Heffley|Manny]] brings one of his magazines (which features a bikini-clad woman reclining over the hood of a car) to show-and-tell and Susan thinks the magazine is sexist so [[Rodrick Heffley|Rodrick]] has to apologize to women. Greg turns his attention back to school and decides to run for Treasurer. Frank likes his idea of running for student government and told him that he ran for secretary when he was in school. Since his campaign openly speaks against the rival candidate, [[Marty Porter]], his posters are confiscated by [[Vice Principal Roy]]. As a result, Greg gives up on his political career.
While on their way to school, Greg sees that Gramma's house has been egged and toilet papered by the teenagers. Greg learns that the students will be doing a wrestling unit in school, and Greg tries tries to learn some wrestling moves from a video game. The next day, he learns that they have to wear "singlets" and they are paired up in weight groups, with Greg wrestling Fregley. Greg worries that with everybody wrestling at recess, somebody will roll into the Cheese. He then tries to get into the next weight class by stuffing his clothes with socks and shirts, but is still too light. He decides to start weightlifting instead, and asks his parents for advice. They suggest doing simple exercises, which Greg does not find helpful. He improvises equipment and tries weightlifting with Rowley.


===October===
The class has a geography quiz, and [[Patty Farrell]] tells [[Mr. Ira|the teacher]] that they should cover up the US map poster Greg planned on using to cheat. Greg fails and is "looking for a way to pay her back for that one." At home, Greg's mother makes him participate in a school play based on ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. Patty tries out for Dorothy, the main character, and Greg considers being one of the witches, who get to do bad things to Dorothy. He learns that there is a Good Witch and a Bad Witch, and decides that he would probably be unlucky enough to get the Good Witch role. The class watches the movie and Greg decides to be a Tree, because they do not sing and they get to throw apples at Dorothy.
Greg is excited for Halloween, calling it his and Frank's favorite holiday. He invites Rowley to the [[Crossland High School]] haunted house but regrets his decision when he is chased by the [[Chainsaw Alley Guy]] in the Chainsaw Alley. After that experience, Greg comes up with an idea to make money and tells Rowley that they could build their own haunted house in the Jeffersons' basement. [[Robert Jefferson|Mr. Jefferson]] puts a stop to the plan, after he catches [[Shane Snella]] underneath a bed, too scared to come out. Rowley got grounded for the mess yesterday. Greg talked to Rowley with walkie-talkies. Greg watches TV and tells what's happening on the screen. The next day, Rowley's mom, [[Linda Jefferson]], got him a cool knight costume prop with a real sword and a shield.


Halloween finally arrives, and Greg and Rowley are forced to go with [[Manny Heffley|Manny]], [[Frank Heffley]], [[Jeremy Mitchell]], and [[Mr. Mitchell]]. Rowley's costume is also covered with reflective tape and his sword was replaced with a glowstick. Greg and Rowley finally break away and make up for the lost time, but are sprayed with a fire extinguisher by a truckload of teenagers passing them on the street. Greg threatens to call 911, and when the teenagers start to turn around, he and Rowley take off and go to [[Gramma]]'s house. They make monkey noises at the teenagers from the window, but when they call [[Susan Heffley|Susan]] and say that they are going to spend the night there, she demands that they come back home. The two travel down [[Snake Road]] and manage to make it to Greg's house in one piece, but are ambushed by Frank, who accidentally splashes water on them from behind the bushes. It turns out that Frank does this on Halloween as a prank to teenagers passing by. Greg wishes that next year, he will kiss a bunch of Butterfingers.
Greg gets the role for one of the Trees, and learns that he has exactly one word as his only line. He tries to get kicked out of the play, but is unsuccessful. He then learns that the play director, [[Mrs. Norton]], has added extra scenes to the play, including one where the Trees sing. After one of the Trees trips and chips a tooth, arm holes are added to the Tree costumes. Greg first sees that Rodrick is attending the play, and when the Trees go on stage, Manny shouts "Bubby!" Greg is able to quickly pass the name off to one of the other Trees, [[Archie Kelly]]. When the Trees start singing, Greg stays quiet, and the other Trees follow. Patty then appears and glares at the Trees, and Greg throws an apple at her. The other Trees join in, and the play ends after her glasses break. Even though everyone else is angry, Greg is happy with how the play went.


===November===
Greg remembers that Christmas is coming up and wishes for a game called ''[[Twisted Wizard]]''. He and his mother go to [[church]] and do the [[Giving Tree]], with his mother deciding to gift a red wool sweater. On Christmas day, Manny receives more presents than anyone else, and Rodrick insultingly gifts Greg ''Best of [[L'il Cutie]]'', which Greg deems "the worst comic in the newspaper." Greg is excited when [[Charlie Heffley|Uncle Charlie]] shows up, hoping for ''Twisted Wizard'', although he instead receives an 8 x 10 image of Uncle Charlie. He also gets a weight set from his father, although he is not interested due to the wrestling unit already ending. Greg's final present for the day is from his mother, which turns out to be a red wool sweater. She is confused and says she did buy ''Twisted Wizard'', and must have mixed up the presents. Greg thinks that while his Christmas hasn't been going great, it must be even worse for the Giving Tree guy, who is unable to use his present due to not having a TV or a video game system. Greg goes to Rowley's house, regifting him the ''L'il Cutie'' book. Rowley gives Greg his Christmas present: a [[Big Wheel]], which he considers lame.
Greg becomes interested in working out and gaining muscles after being forced to wrestle with [[Fregley]] during a wrestling unit in Phys Ed. He tries to convince his parents to buy a weight set, but Susan says he has to buy it himself. Greg decides to make his own weight set, but Rowley breaks it trying to make it lighter as he found it too heavy. Greg decides to cheat on a Geography test because he sits by a map with the answers, but [[Patty Farrell]] tells the teacher, causing Greg to fail. So he gets his chance after Mom makes him sign up for the school play of [[The Wizard of Oz]]. He notices Patty earning the spot of Dorothy and decides to be a tree so that he can peg her with apples. He gets the part but [[Mrs. Norton]] says they won't be throwing apples, much to Greg's dismay. He then tries to get cut from the play but fails. It is really hard to screw up to get bailed out of the play.


===December===
On New Year's Eve, Greg gets in trouble when Manny accidentally swallows a thread (believing it to be a spider) while playing with him. Greg plays a game with Rowley where he tries to knock Rowley off the Big Wheel with a football. After writing his Christmas thank-you cards, he finally knocks Rowley off when the ball gets caught under the wheel. Rowley lands on his left arm and gets a cast, making him popular with girls at school. Greg tries to fake an injury for popularity, which does not work. Greg joins Independent Study at school, and their first assignment is to brainstorm a robot and what it looks like and does. They come up with a robot that repeats your name, and write a list of swear words it should not be able to say. This list ends up cancelling Independent Study for the year.
Greg predicts that the play will be a disaster and whines that [[Mrs. Norton]] created a song for the trees that he dislikes. However he is relieved that the trees could at least have arm holes. The big night arrives, but [[Rodney James]] (who is playing The Shrub) gets stage fright, and it starts late. Greg hops onto the stage where [[Manny Heffley|Manny]] calls him "Bubby". Luckily, Greg redirects the nickname to [[Archie Kelly]]. He decides to keep quiet when the song starts causing the other trees to be quiet as well. Patty yells from the sidelines and Greg throws an apple at her, followed by the other trees and Toto. Patty's glasses break and the play is forced to shut down. Mom was very mad. Relieved by not having to worry about his nickname, Greg starts to create his Christmas wish list, but only wants a game named [[Twisted Wizard]]. One time when Greg was a kid, he wanted a Barbie Dream House for his base. But, [[Uncle Charlie]] got Greg a doll instead of a dream house. Then a few weeks later, he ended up in the hospital, getting out his Barbie shoe out of his nose. Christmas arrives and Manny receives everything he wanted while Greg receives a framed picture of Uncle Charlie, a Lil Cutie book, and a red sweater originally for his Christmas Donation. He doesn't like either. Greg gives Rowley the book of [[Lil' Cutie]] comics and he gives Greg a Big Wheel. Greg is then in trouble after an accident while playing with Manny on New Year's Eve (accidentally making him swallow thread he thought was a spider) and makes a promise to never to play with Manny ever again.


===January===
Greg joins the Safety Patrols, wanting a position of authority, and invites Rowley as well. They are approved and enjoy being able to have free hot chocolate in the morning, with their only duty being to walk the kindergartners home. A few days later, when Greg notices snowfall, he and Rowley attempt to build the world's largest snowman. When the snow stops, they decide to roll it at the [[Whirley Street Kids]] when they arrive tomorrow. Greg sees Manny making a small snowman and kicks it over, causing his dad to get angry and destroy the snowball. When Rowley arrives, he and Greg are assaulted by the Whirley Street Kids.
[[Greg Heffley]] makes up a game with the Big Wheel: knocking the rider off with a football. He successfully manages to knock Rowley off, but at the cost of Rowley breaking his arm. With Winter Break over, Rowley is babied by the girls, so Greg tries to impress the girls, but fails. He signs up for Independent Study, but all the boys are kicked off due to a misunderstanding. Greg then decides to sign up for the [[Safety Patrol]] and recruits [[Rowley Jefferson|Rowley]] as well. They get assigned to walk kindergartners home every day at twelve, which Greg doesn't like very much in itself, but, much to Greg's delight, he gets to have free hot chocolate and miss Pre-Algebra.


===February===
When the school cartoonist job opens up, Greg is excited to replace ''[[Wacky Dawg]]'', a strip that the writer had been using to handle his personal business. He teams up with Rowley and they do a cartoon, with the punchline to every strip being "Zoo-Wee Mama!" Greg gets tired of writing it and Rowley takes over, while Greg creates and submits ''[[Creighton the Cretin]]''. It gets published, and when he gets the paper to see it, he notices that the comic has been "totally butchered," due to the joke being changed and the punchline being replaced with a plug for the school library.
Greg wakes to a pile of snow and calls Rowley for a shot at building the world's biggest snowman, and created the base only for the snow to stop. The two then agree on rolling the snowball down the street to teach the [[Whirley Street Kids]] a lesson. The following day, Greg destroys Manny's miniature snowmen and his snowball is destroyed by Dad, much to Rowley's fury. The two get in a fight but are accidentally hit by the [[Whirley Street Kids]] who are sledding. If the English teacher was in the scene, she would said it was "ironic". Back at school, Greg decides to team up with Rowley to create a comic strip for the school newspaper for a chance to get popular. Bryan Little has a comic called [[Wacky Dawg]]. The result is [[Zoo-Wee-Mama!]], but Greg abandons the comic for [[Creighton the Cretin]]. Greg wins the contest, but his comic is changed heavily, earning him a punch.


===March===
Rowley is punished for "terrorizing" kindergartners and is suspended from being a Safety Patrols for a week. Greg remembers when he was wearing Rowley's coat and chasing the kindergartners with a worm on a stick, and someone caught him. He feels that he should confess, but does not want to lose his hot chocolate privileges. Greg's mother gives him advice to do the "right thing," which Greg decides is to let Rowley apologize and continue to be punished. He lets Rowley know what really happened after school, reports to his mother that he did the right thing, and gets rewarded with ice cream.
Rowley is called to [[Mr. Winsky]]'s office to discuss him terrorizing the kindergarteners in front of [[Mrs. Irvine]] and is suspended from the [[Safety Patrol]] for the time being. Greg recalls the incident and remembers that he had chased the kids with a worm while wearing Rowley's coat. Mom tries to figure out what's wrong and tells Greg to do the right thing which he decides is letting Rowley take the blame. Greg tells Rowley he was the one who terrorized the kids, much to Rowley's anger. Greg says he did the right thing taking into account to follow Mom's advice, but Rowley turns Greg in. Mr. Winsky says an anonymous source had said Greg was responsible and he was relieved of duty while Rowley gets a promotion. Greg decides to get revenge on Rowley but instead warms up to him so he could come along with him to Six Flags in June. However, Rowley rejects him to Greg's madness/anger.


===April===
The next day, Greg is fired from being a safety patrol after an "anonymous source" (which Greg believes is Rowley) clears up the incident. Rowley is promoted and Greg learns that the Safety Patrols get to go to [[Six Flags]] and can bring one friend on the trip, so he tries to reconcile with Rowley. He then sees Rowley hanging out with [[Collin Lee]] and wants to make him jealous, so he has a sleepover with Fregley. Fregley eats Greg's jelly beans and chases him with a booger on his finger, then Greg blacks out and goes home hours later.
Greg notices [[Rowley Jefferson|Rowley]] has been hanging out with [[Collin Lee]] and sees the two going on a sleepover. To make him jealous, Greg decides to sleep over at [[Fregley]]'s house but regrets his decision after Fregley chases him with a booger. Greg falls asleep, wakes up at two in the morning, and sneaks out of the house. Without Rowley, Greg spends time in Rodrick's room and decides to become popular by winning a spot on the Class Favorites page. He then decides to go for Class Clown in Class Favorites.


===May===
Greg looks through Rodrick's drawer and finds his old yearbook. This inspires him to try to get on the Class Favorites page of his own school's yearbook. He decides to go for Class Clown. but decides against it when his mother volunteers as a substitute teacher. Greg looks in the school paper to see that he has been replaced by Rowley with ''[[Zoo-Wee Mama!]]'' which even the teachers enjoy. He ends up "fighting" Rowley after school, drawing a crowd that runs away when the teenagers from Halloween arrive. They make Rowley eat the Cheese, and Greg lies that he's allergic to dairy so he does not have to eat it.
To win, Greg decides to make fun of [[Mr. Worth]]'s substitute, but it turns out to be Susan (his Mom). He drops the idea and reads the school newspaper, noticing that [[Zoo-Wee-Mama]] has replaced his comic. After school, Greg tells Rowley that he has to give him credit for an idea they came up together, but Rowley says he was the one who came up with the comic. Greg and Rowley start fighting, and kids started cheering them on, Greg starts ridiculously throwing his fists around, and Rowley, as Greg puts it "pranced around like a leprechaun", but finally they get ready to strike. But before they could, a group of teenagers pull up and grab Greg and Rowley while the others run off. Greg recognizes the bullies from Halloween night and starts to worry when he spots the cheese nearby. The Halloween bullies make Rowley eat the cheese, but Greg says he's allergic to dairy to get out of it. The teenagers make Rowley finish off the cheese and leave the two behind. The next day, the students wonder where the cheese went and Greg lies that he threw it away. Greg then realizes that he has the [[Cheese Touch]] now as everyone runs away from him.


===June===
Everybody notices that the Cheese is gone and wonders what happened. Greg lies that he picked it up and threw it away, meaning that he has the Cheese Touch. He ends up enjoying it due to getting out of the Square Dance unit and having the lunch table to himself. When the yearbooks are handed out, he sees that Rowley was voted Class Clown, and throws his yearbook in the trash, planning to remind Rowley that he ate the Cheese.
The [[Safety Patrol]] went on their field trip to the Six Flags and [[Chirag Gupta]] moves away. Greg and Rowley reconcile their friendship while Greg states having the [[Cheese Touch]] wasn't that bad. On the last day of school, he opens a yearbook and sees Rowley as the Class Clown. Greg throws away the yearbook into the trash can and says Rowley can have Class Clown, but if he gets over his head, he's telling everyone who ate the ______.


==Errors==
==Errors==
*Greg is shown too tall on Page 159.
*Greg is too tall on page 159.
*Greg's waist is shown too high on Page 152.
*Greg's waist is too high on page 152.
*The cover art has a slightly stretched and thicker lined version of Greg. This has been corrected on an "Authentic Product" tag that appears on some T-Shirts and other products.
*On page 70, Greg has no pirate hook and it does not come back for the rest of Halloween. On page 73, Greg's pirate hat disappears.
*On page 70, Greg has no pirate hook and it does not come back for the rest of Halloween. On page 73, Greg's pirate hat disappeared.
*Greg says that he has kept the "Bubby" nickname secret for five years, although Manny is three years old.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
Line 71: Line 72:
Book 1 back cover.jpg|The back cover
Book 1 back cover.jpg|The back cover
635337214334327411_th.jpg|The front page
635337214334327411_th.jpg|The front page
WimpyKidKindle.png|A page from the kindle version.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid original cover.jpg|The original cover.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid original cover.jpg|The original cover.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 1_ABRAMS.JPG|The front cover of this book
AudiobookWimpyKid.jpg|The cover of the audiobook version
51JRo825BcL._SX341_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg|The Spanish version of the book
Z01410_image_148x230.jpg|Wimpy Kid 1 Audiobook.
ImageServlet.jpg|The Large Print version.
wk-1-1.png|The online cover.
wk-1-1.png|The online cover.
</gallery>
</gallery>
Line 180: Line 175:
Rowley Jefferson Class Clown.jpg
Rowley Jefferson Class Clown.jpg
</gallery>
</gallery>
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Diary of a Wimpy Kid books]]
[[Category:Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series]]
[[Category:Jeff Kinney]]
[[Category:Real Life Books]]
[[Category:Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)]]
[[Category:Reading Material]]
[[Category:Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]

Revision as of 04:39, 8 July 2019

This article is about the book. For the article about the series, see Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)

Template:Book infobox Diary of a Wimpy Kid (subtitled Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal on the title page) is the 1st book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It was released on April 1, 2007, and was adapted into a movie, which premiered on March 19, 2010. Diary of a Wimpy Kid succeeds Diary of a Wimpy Kid Online and precedes Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

Major Characters

Synopsis

The book begins with Greg Heffley insisting that he is writing in a "journal" and not a "diary," saying that he asked his mother not to buy a book with "diary" on the cover. He agreed to write in it for when he's "rich and famous," although he is currently "stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons." Greg sits between Chris Hosey and Lionel James, planning to sit between "hot girls" next period. The most popular student at Greg's school is Bryce Anderson, and Greg himself is around "52nd or 53rd most popular." He tries to explain popularity to his best friend Rowley Jefferson (who he thinks is around the 150th most popular), but he doesn't think Rowley understands.

The next day, Greg notices that the Cheese, a moldy piece of cheese that has been sitting on the blacktop since last spring, is still there. A student named Darren Walsh touched it and started the Cheese Touch, which one has to pass on to someone else by touching them if they catch it. The only way for one to protect themselves is to cross their fingers, and Greg tapes them together to avoid catching the Cheese Touch. A student named Abe Hall got it and moved away to California, ending the Cheese Touch, which Greg is glad about.

Greg has had trouble adjusting to waking up for school every morning, remembering that his brother Rodrick pranked him into thinking he slept through the entirety of summer vacation. He then gets assigned to reading groups in school and ends up in the Gifted group, despite wanting to be in the Easy group. On Saturday, Greg visits Rowley's house, although he feels that he should find a new best friend due to Rowley acting childish. Greg writes that although he can play pranks on Rowley, he could never get away with doing it on Manny, his little brother. Greg dislikes that Manny calls him "Bubby," an embarrassing nickname he has been trying to get rid of.

Greg writes that he is very skilled at video games, although his father doesn't appreciate his "skills" and wants him to play sports instead. Greg is kicked out of the house by his father, and he goes to Rowley's house to play video games instead, running through a sprinkler to look sweaty when he returns home. Tomorrow, Greg is sent outside to play again, although he dislikes needing to walk to Rowley's because of a strange kid named Fregley who lives between Greg and Rowley. Greg says that he would have went to Rowley's house even if his father had not sent him outside, because he thinks Rodrick's band, Löded Diper, is "REALLY awful" and does not want to hear them rehearsing.

Greg wants to listen to Rodrick's "Parental Warning" CD, so he asks Rowley to bring his CD player to school. Rowley does not have any batteries in his CD player, so Greg invents a game where they try to shake the headphones off their head as fast as possible. A teacher named Mrs. Craig tells them that rock and roll is "evil," and Rowley starts crying. Greg then plays the CD at home, forgetting to plug in his headphones and alerting his father, who grounds him from playing video games for two weeks. Rodrick gets in trouble when Manny brings in one of his heavy metal magazines, featuring "a woman in a bikini lying across the hood of a car," to his preschool's show-and-tell.

At school, Greg runs for Treasurer in the student government elections, thinking that everyone else will be running for positions like President and Vice President. He learns that he only has one opponent, named Marty Porter. Greg asks his father for help, and who shows posters he made when he was Greg's age. Greg likes the idea and makes insulting posters of Marty, which Vice Principal Roy takes down. Greg writes, "I guess this means my political career is officially over."

In October, Greg is excited for his and his father's favorite holiday; while Greg likes trick-or-treating, his father likes to hide in the bushes and drench passing teenagers with water. Greg and Rowley go to the Crossland High School haunted house, and are chased by someone in a hockey mask with a chainsaw until Greg's mother yells at him. The haunted house gives Greg and Rowley the idea to start their own in Rowley's basement. After they put up posters, they charge two dollars per person, and the first kid, Shane Snella, gets scared and refuses to move. Rowley's father comes downstairs and ends the haunted house, with Rowley being banned from having Greg over and not being allowed to watch TV.

Rowley's ban ends before Halloween, and he and Greg are able to go trick-or-treating with Manny and Greg's father. They are joined by their neighbor Mr. Mitchell and his son Jeremy. When Manny and Jeremy are taken home, Greg and Rowley continue trick-or-treating, and are sprayed by a teen riding in a truck with a fire extinguisher. Greg shouts that he will call the cops, and he and Rowley stay in Gramma's house for a while, mocking the teens. They walk home along Snake Road, and when they arrive at Greg's house, Greg's father soaks them with water.

While on their way to school, Greg sees that Gramma's house has been egged and toilet papered by the teenagers. Greg learns that the students will be doing a wrestling unit in school, and Greg tries tries to learn some wrestling moves from a video game. The next day, he learns that they have to wear "singlets" and they are paired up in weight groups, with Greg wrestling Fregley. Greg worries that with everybody wrestling at recess, somebody will roll into the Cheese. He then tries to get into the next weight class by stuffing his clothes with socks and shirts, but is still too light. He decides to start weightlifting instead, and asks his parents for advice. They suggest doing simple exercises, which Greg does not find helpful. He improvises equipment and tries weightlifting with Rowley.

The class has a geography quiz, and Patty Farrell tells the teacher that they should cover up the US map poster Greg planned on using to cheat. Greg fails and is "looking for a way to pay her back for that one." At home, Greg's mother makes him participate in a school play based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Patty tries out for Dorothy, the main character, and Greg considers being one of the witches, who get to do bad things to Dorothy. He learns that there is a Good Witch and a Bad Witch, and decides that he would probably be unlucky enough to get the Good Witch role. The class watches the movie and Greg decides to be a Tree, because they do not sing and they get to throw apples at Dorothy.

Greg gets the role for one of the Trees, and learns that he has exactly one word as his only line. He tries to get kicked out of the play, but is unsuccessful. He then learns that the play director, Mrs. Norton, has added extra scenes to the play, including one where the Trees sing. After one of the Trees trips and chips a tooth, arm holes are added to the Tree costumes. Greg first sees that Rodrick is attending the play, and when the Trees go on stage, Manny shouts "Bubby!" Greg is able to quickly pass the name off to one of the other Trees, Archie Kelly. When the Trees start singing, Greg stays quiet, and the other Trees follow. Patty then appears and glares at the Trees, and Greg throws an apple at her. The other Trees join in, and the play ends after her glasses break. Even though everyone else is angry, Greg is happy with how the play went.

Greg remembers that Christmas is coming up and wishes for a game called Twisted Wizard. He and his mother go to church and do the Giving Tree, with his mother deciding to gift a red wool sweater. On Christmas day, Manny receives more presents than anyone else, and Rodrick insultingly gifts Greg Best of L'il Cutie, which Greg deems "the worst comic in the newspaper." Greg is excited when Uncle Charlie shows up, hoping for Twisted Wizard, although he instead receives an 8 x 10 image of Uncle Charlie. He also gets a weight set from his father, although he is not interested due to the wrestling unit already ending. Greg's final present for the day is from his mother, which turns out to be a red wool sweater. She is confused and says she did buy Twisted Wizard, and must have mixed up the presents. Greg thinks that while his Christmas hasn't been going great, it must be even worse for the Giving Tree guy, who is unable to use his present due to not having a TV or a video game system. Greg goes to Rowley's house, regifting him the L'il Cutie book. Rowley gives Greg his Christmas present: a Big Wheel, which he considers lame.

On New Year's Eve, Greg gets in trouble when Manny accidentally swallows a thread (believing it to be a spider) while playing with him. Greg plays a game with Rowley where he tries to knock Rowley off the Big Wheel with a football. After writing his Christmas thank-you cards, he finally knocks Rowley off when the ball gets caught under the wheel. Rowley lands on his left arm and gets a cast, making him popular with girls at school. Greg tries to fake an injury for popularity, which does not work. Greg joins Independent Study at school, and their first assignment is to brainstorm a robot and what it looks like and does. They come up with a robot that repeats your name, and write a list of swear words it should not be able to say. This list ends up cancelling Independent Study for the year.

Greg joins the Safety Patrols, wanting a position of authority, and invites Rowley as well. They are approved and enjoy being able to have free hot chocolate in the morning, with their only duty being to walk the kindergartners home. A few days later, when Greg notices snowfall, he and Rowley attempt to build the world's largest snowman. When the snow stops, they decide to roll it at the Whirley Street Kids when they arrive tomorrow. Greg sees Manny making a small snowman and kicks it over, causing his dad to get angry and destroy the snowball. When Rowley arrives, he and Greg are assaulted by the Whirley Street Kids.

When the school cartoonist job opens up, Greg is excited to replace Wacky Dawg, a strip that the writer had been using to handle his personal business. He teams up with Rowley and they do a cartoon, with the punchline to every strip being "Zoo-Wee Mama!" Greg gets tired of writing it and Rowley takes over, while Greg creates and submits Creighton the Cretin. It gets published, and when he gets the paper to see it, he notices that the comic has been "totally butchered," due to the joke being changed and the punchline being replaced with a plug for the school library.

Rowley is punished for "terrorizing" kindergartners and is suspended from being a Safety Patrols for a week. Greg remembers when he was wearing Rowley's coat and chasing the kindergartners with a worm on a stick, and someone caught him. He feels that he should confess, but does not want to lose his hot chocolate privileges. Greg's mother gives him advice to do the "right thing," which Greg decides is to let Rowley apologize and continue to be punished. He lets Rowley know what really happened after school, reports to his mother that he did the right thing, and gets rewarded with ice cream.

The next day, Greg is fired from being a safety patrol after an "anonymous source" (which Greg believes is Rowley) clears up the incident. Rowley is promoted and Greg learns that the Safety Patrols get to go to Six Flags and can bring one friend on the trip, so he tries to reconcile with Rowley. He then sees Rowley hanging out with Collin Lee and wants to make him jealous, so he has a sleepover with Fregley. Fregley eats Greg's jelly beans and chases him with a booger on his finger, then Greg blacks out and goes home hours later.

Greg looks through Rodrick's drawer and finds his old yearbook. This inspires him to try to get on the Class Favorites page of his own school's yearbook. He decides to go for Class Clown. but decides against it when his mother volunteers as a substitute teacher. Greg looks in the school paper to see that he has been replaced by Rowley with Zoo-Wee Mama! which even the teachers enjoy. He ends up "fighting" Rowley after school, drawing a crowd that runs away when the teenagers from Halloween arrive. They make Rowley eat the Cheese, and Greg lies that he's allergic to dairy so he does not have to eat it.

Everybody notices that the Cheese is gone and wonders what happened. Greg lies that he picked it up and threw it away, meaning that he has the Cheese Touch. He ends up enjoying it due to getting out of the Square Dance unit and having the lunch table to himself. When the yearbooks are handed out, he sees that Rowley was voted Class Clown, and throws his yearbook in the trash, planning to remind Rowley that he ate the Cheese.

Errors

  • Greg is too tall on page 159.
  • Greg's waist is too high on page 152.
  • On page 70, Greg has no pirate hook and it does not come back for the rest of Halloween. On page 73, Greg's pirate hat disappears.
  • Greg says that he has kept the "Bubby" nickname secret for five years, although Manny is three years old.

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Illustrations