Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth

Cover art
Author	Jeff Kinney
Illustrator	Jeff Kinney
Cover artist	Jeff Kinney
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Genre	Comedy
Publisher	Amulet Books
Publication date	November 9, 2010
Media type	Print (paperback, hardcover)
Pages	217
ISBN	978-0-8109-8491-2
Preceded by	Dog Days
Followed by	Cabin Fever

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth is a 2010 bestselling children's fiction book by American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney and is the fifth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.^[1] The Ugly Truth sold 548,000 copies in its initial week of publication, edging out Decision Points, which sold 437,000 copies.^[2]

Kinney initially struggled with the decision of whether Greg would be a non-aging "cartoon character" or a literary character that would age and go through puberty, deciding to make puberty one of the book's themes.^[3] Kinney also debated over whether to end the series with five books, eventually deciding to continue the series.^[4]

Summary

Greg Heffley 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, whereas his father makes him do the work on his own and helps 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. He put it under his bed so he would have to get out of bed to find it. But with the clock ticking loudly under his bed, he feels like he is on top of a bomb and therefore gets no sleep. As a result, Greg accidentally sets off the fire alarm at school in his sleep-deprived state. The entire school has to evacuate, and the fire brigade is called. After everyone goes back in, the head teacher says that whoever set off the alarm will be suspended and should turn themselves in. Greg does not get caught, but a rumour goes around that the fire alarm squirts out an invisible liquid when you pull the handle and the teachers could detect it with a special wand. Then everyone thinks that the teachers used this as a trick to see which kid goes to wash his hands first. No one goes to wash their hands, and since it is the middle of flu season, the school has to close early.

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 (Susan cooks him scrambled egg for breakfast using the egg), 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 mistakenly think one of Greg's team members of a game photographed their rear end (it was really a picture of a bent arm), 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. Greg does not get any sleep that night, and so on Monday he feels sick. Greg had faked illness in the past before, and Susan found out, but this time she takes his temperature and says he needs to stay in bed. Also, Susan fires the family's housemaid after she catches her throwing a soap opera party. Greg had attempted to get the maid to do his chores several times but each time she weaseled out of it.

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. Greg then comes back, but he finds out that Jordan invited kids in Greg's year group for the sole purpose of using them as servants.

At the end, Greg's mother Susan stops going to college temporarily to return to the family, much to Greg's delight. Greg also decides to make the first move and mends his friendship with his ex-best friend Rowley, and the two become friends again.

Reception

Critical reception for The Ugly Truth has been mostly positive,^[5][6] with the book gaining praise from the Los Angeles Times and the National Post.^[7][8] The School Library Journal gave a positive review for the entry while Common Sense Media commented that the book wasn't as "fresh and irreverent" as its predecessors.^[9][10]

References

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules The Last Straw Dog Days The Ugly Truth Cabin Fever The Third Wheel Hard Luck The Long Haul Old School Category See also: Characters Greg Heffley Film series Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules, Dog Days