Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown

Template:Infobox Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown is the 13th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The book was released on October 30th, 2018.

Characters

Main Characters

• Greg Heffley
• Manny Heffley
• Rodrick Heffley
• Frank Heffley
• Susan Heffley
• Rowley Jefferson
• Whirley Street Kids (Main Antagonists)

Minor Characters

• Night Janitor
• Dennis Tracton
• Fregley
• Jacob Hoff
• Ernesto Gutierrez
• Gabriel Johns
• David Marsh
• Joseph O'Rourke
• Mitchell Pickett
• Speed Bump
• Pervis Gentry
• Gino
• Baby Gibson
• Sheldon Reyes
• Mrs. Jimenez
• Anthony Denard
• Jeremy Garza
• Jameson Garza
• Marlee sisters
• Emilia Greenwall
• Latricia Hooks
• Victoria Hooks
• Evelyn Trimble
• Trevor Nix
• The Heffleys' Pig
• Mingo Kids
• Great Aunt Dorothy (mentioned)
• Safety Patrols
• Albert Sandy
• Teddy Silvetti
• Jake McGough
• Mr. Yee (mentioned)
• Gramma
• Sweetie
• Mrs. McNeil
• Lily Bodner
• Gary (weatherman)
• Cassie Drench
• Eric Reynolds
• Dougie Finch
• Guzmans' dogs
• Mrs. Wiley
• Becky Cosgrove
• Goat Man
• Mrs. Drummond (mentioned)
• Robert
• Fake Greg Heffley
• Marcus Marconi

Plot

When the schools get shut down because of a snowy day, the neighborhood transforms into a wintry battlefield. Some rival groups fight over territory, Some rival groups build massive snow forts, and some rival groups stage epic snowball fights. In the cross-hairs are Greg Heffley and his trusty-true to the end-best friend, Rowley Jefferson.

It's a fight for survival as Greg and Rowley navigate against alliances, betrayals, and warring gangs in a neighborhood meltdown. When the snow clears, will Greg and Rowley emerge as heroes? Or will they even survive to see another day

Synopsis

January

The story starts off by Greg saying how everybody is outside enjoying the warm weather, but Greg isn't because it's January and it doesn't feel right because it's the middle of winter. Greg then says about how the whole planet is warming up, and humans are to blame. But Greg says that he shouldn't be to blame, as he only recently got onto planet earth (being born). He then says about he hopes that it doesn't warm up too fast, or he would have to ride a camel to school. He then says he heard that the ice caps are melting and the seas is rising and he was trying to convince his parents to buy a house higher up on their hill so that they can avoid the water for longer, but his parents aren't too concerned. It makes Greg nervous that he's the only person in his family worried about it, and if they didn't do something about it now they would wish they did. The seas rising isn't the only thing that is making Greg nervous, as there could be things in the ice caps, and since they are melting they could be free. Greg then says that he saw a movie about a caveman that got frozen in ice, and thousands of years later when it melted he was still ALIVE. Greg didn't know if that could happen in real life, but if it could he says that if it could his night time janitor could be one.

Trivia

• This is the second purple book, the first being The Ugly Truth.
• This is the 13th book in the series.
• This is the third book to not have the word "Diary" in yellow. The first two books are Dog Days and Hard Luck.
  • However, this is the first odd-numbered book to not have the word "Diary" in yellow.
• This is the first book to use two different shades of one color. On the top half of the book, it is colored Blue-ish Dark Purple. While on the bottom half of the book, it is colored Red-ish Dark Purple.
  • However, the overall color of the book is still Dark Purple, anyway.
• This is the second book where the words "of a Wimpy Kid" are in purple. The first is Old School.
• This is the first time the subtitle is 3D.
  • This is also the sixth book where the subtitle starts with "The". The first is The Last Straw, the second is The Ugly Truth, the third is The Third Wheel, the fourth is The Long Haul, and the fifth is The Getaway.
• This is the third time the spine uses these following two colors and they are: Dark Purple and True Blue. The other two books are Double Down which uses these following two colors: Red-Orange and Yellow and The Getaway which uses these following two colors: Azure and Yellow Green.
• This is the first book since Dog Days to be released in October.
• This is the fourth book to include a reptile-skin design.
  • This is also the third book to include the new Amulet logo.
• This is the sixth book to feature Greg's trademark frown. The others were: Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, Dog Days, The Ugly Truth, Old School, and The Getaway.
• This is the third book to have a resemblance to the story on the cover, after Dog Days. As purple and blue are "cool colours".
• This is the fifth book to take place in winter. The first four books are Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules, The Third Wheel, Cabin Fever, and The Getaway.
• This is the third time Greg screwed up a project without research.
• Fregley returns in this book. He hasn't appeared since Hard Luck.
• On page 164, Rowley and Greg are coming up with a name for their clan. Rowley suggests "Hufflepuff" which is a reference to the Harry Potter Hogwarts house, but Greg says he wants a more original name.
• Flat Stanley is mentioned on page 141. Greg says that he wants a TV on his ceiling, but he wants it installed by someone who knows what they're doing so he isn't "the next Flat Stanley."
• This is the first book to feature a person dabbing, proving that cringe memes even exist in Greg Heffley's world. (A kid is shown dabbing on the page where Greg's class plays a game called "Musuem")

Errors

• Page 210, the upper left kid's right hand is missing. Same goes for the bottom right kid.

Preview

• https://s3.amazonaws.com/WebVault/SLJ/EDIT18/DWK-SneakPeek-TheMeltdown.pdf

Gallery

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  A screenshot from an official teaser video for the book, released ahead of the books title, cover and color being revealed

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  Sketches from Jeff Kinney's twitter post.

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