Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul is the ninth book in the series. It mainly focuses on the Heffley family going on a road trip. The book was released in the US on November 4th 2014, while released a day later in the UK and Ireland.
Main Characters
- Greg Heffley (main character)
- Susan Heffley
- Manny Heffley
- Rodrick Heffley
- Frank Heffley
- Beardo Family (main antagonists)
Synopsis
A Family road trip is supposed to be a lot of fun... Unless of course, your the Heffleys. The Journey starts off full of promise. then quickly takes several wrong turns. Gas Station bathrooms, crazed seagulls and a runaway pig--Not Greg Heffley's idea of a good time. But even the worst road trip can turn into an adventure-- and this is one the Heffleys Will never forget.
Plot
June
The book starts with Greg, Rodrick and Manny relaxing in front of the TV since their summer break just started, then Susan comes to tell them that they are going on a road trip. Greg then talks about how his parents have made surprise trips before too often and then talks about the "Family Frolic" magazine from which Susan gets all ideas and explain how they don't turn good for the family. He then talks about a boat which Frank bought a few years ago but never used for years and staying there it developed cracks and soon became a store where raccoons started to live in. They then get the stuff they needed for the trip and started cutting what they didn't want, but still there was a lot of space left, even after using the boat to put stuff in it, Greg is forced to sit in the back with the stuff. Later Susan takes out Flat Stanley from her purse which she hopes to take photo of in front of the scenery. Susan gets the educational stuff out and puts in a Spanish CD, so that they can learn Spanish, but they don't pay attention. Susan later abandons this plan and started playing games. During this Greg also learns a lot of information about his parents that he never knew before. Manny later falls asleep, if they woke him up then he would have a fit so they kept quiet and even drove slow so that Rodrick can go and get food for dinner. They stop at a cheap motel, which is very dirty and there are cigarette burns and wet towels in their rooms, but there was a 24-hour cancellation so they had to stay there, since Rodrick bought snacks, they had to eat Sugar Wafers and breath mints for dinner. Later Rodrick and Greg go swimming but there is no water, after coming back and finding everybody asleep, so they go off to sleep. Greg goes to sleep but is forced to wake up by a loud noise from outside, a bunch of kids got hold of a cleaning cart.
Trivia
- This is the second book in the series to not have the word "Jeff Kinney" in the middle, the first being the UK version of Cabin Fever.
- The colour of the book is similar to the Do-It-Yourself Book, but far lighter.
- This is the first book where Rowley Jefferson makes a minor appearance in one page. This is also the first book where Westmore Middle School has no appearances, because the book took place in June, during the summer and school holidays.
- This is one of the few books where we see branded stuff mentioned on some pages.
- This book takes place in June only, first book to cover 1 month only and it covers between 1-2 weeks only.
Reference to Dates
U.S. - November 4th, 2014
U.K. - November 5th, 2014