Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth is the fifth book of the Wimpy Kid series. The cover of the book is of a violet color. The book was announced on July 29, 2010. The caption is "This Fall... Everything Changes".
The book is about Greg and Rowley's friendship, their final year in middle school, and about the pressures of growing up. This will be marked as the second time talking about Greg and Rowley's friendship. Notably, some more characters have underwent changes since its predecessor, Dog Days.
Greg is getting bored of video games and comics, and has matured slightly, but he still overreacts greatly to minor inconveniences and is still hypocritical and harsh. Rodrick has matured slightly as well, no longer physically harming anyone voluntarily, although he does cause major trouble around the house and continues to pull pranks on Greg, however infrequently. Susan no longer spoils Manny, as she now learns from past experiences that such things are not good, although she continues to trouble Greg. Frank is no longer troubled with Greg's mistakes, as he now learns that Greg has matured more.
Synopsis
It has been two weeks since Greg Heffley had a big fight with his ex-best-friend, Rowley Jefferson. Then he finds out that Rowley's parents found a replacement best friend: a hired role-model from a company called "Cool Brian".
Greg attempts to score popularity points at school with a textbook that was previously owned by Jordan Jury, the most popular student in the grade above Greg's. He also posts edited photos on the Internet in an attempt to try and convince others that he has a fun life. (which he doesn't)
Greg then attempts to audition for a local ice cream advertisement for an ice cream company called "Peachy Breeze." Greg fails his audition due to him being too old to fit the part for a 3-6 year old. Greg then explains how he is discriminated because of his age by his own family, stating he was the center of attention when he was younger and is now disliked and ignored due to Manny, his younger brother.
Greg is then informed that his Uncle Gary will marry for the fourth time, and that when his wedding comes, Greg will have "The Talk" with his great-grandmother Gammie, a polite but sly and clever old woman.
Susan Heffley, Greg's mother, announces that she will be going back to college for a few months in order to stimulate her mind. As a result, the Heffley men must take care of themselves, and most stability falls apart. Food is often ruined, and Frank Heffley, Greg's father, sprains his ankle, when they try to go out to eat. As Susan usually does the chores around the house, Greg is left with little clean clothes to wear. Greg also complains that he must take more time to do his homework, since Susan often helps in in the way of giving him all the answers, and his father, Frank Heffley, makes him do the work on his own and helping very little. Greg is also given the responsibility of waking himself up. He tries a better alarm clock than his older one, which didn't work, a wind-up clock. Thinking the ticking of it was a bomb, he got no sleep. As a result, Greg accidentally set off the fire alarm at school in his sleep-deprived state, but manages not to get caught.
Greg faces more misfortunes, such as facing a serious, ill-tempered, paranoid dentist instead of going to a fun dentist center where Greg has a crush on one of the hygienists there, failing a high-grade Health class assignment, where he must take care of an egg like it is a baby, and dealing with an extremely lazy maid who Susan hired to clean the house who refuses to do Greg's laundry, hogs the TV, and takes naps in Greg's bed.
At school, a "Lock-In" is organized where boys and girls Greg's age have a supervised slumber party in the school auditorium. It turns out to be a disaster, in which there are nearly no girls, excess amounts of chaperones, all technology is confiscated, boring and risky party games, an incident where the chaperones think one of Greg's team members of a game photographed their buttocks, and a freezing cold night in which the chaperones intentionally turned off the heater and switched on the air conditioner to keep the misbehaving boys in their beds.
Rowley comes to school with a large pimple on his forehead. This makes Greg wonder about his growth spurt. They are then both invited to one of Jordan Jury's notoriously wild parties, in which many girls come. Unfortunately for Greg, the party takes place on the same day as his Uncle Gary's wedding. Greg is humiliated and bored at the wedding, and then receives "The Talk" from Gammie. Gammie explains to Greg the stress and horrors of becoming and being an adult both physically and mentally, which causes Greg to enjoy his late childhood for now.
At this point Greg's mother Susan stops going to college for now to returns to the family, much to Greg's delight. Greg also decided to make the first move and mends his friendship with his ex-best friend Rowley, and the two became friends again.
Major Moments
- "The Talk" with Greg's great-grandma, Gammie.
- The Heffleys hiring a maid.
- The "Lock-In", a slumber party at school which is a scam.
- Greg and Rowley getting back together at the end.
- Uncle Gary's 4th wedding.
- Greg going through puberty.
- The Peachy Breeze Ad competition.
- The introduction of over 15 characters
Trivia
- Many people believed that this book's color would be black before the announcement of the official color. Similarly, before this book's real title was released, some fans referred to it as Diary of a Wimpy Kid: My Last Year.File:Rowleyrevenge.pngOriginal Cover Design.
- Trista was rumored to be Greg's girlfriend in this book, but this proved to be false, as she was never seen or even mentioned.
- Despite the rumors, Trista didn't appear in this book and was not mentioned either. This also goes for Holly Hills.
- At the top it is said Greg does not like video games or comics but in the chapter when Susan when back to school Greg was talking about how he has a good memory when his dad told him to do a chore the first time he was playing video games and when he reminded him Greg was reading comics.
- The book was originally going to be called "Rowley's Revenge".
