Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: 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]

Plot

The story begins with Greg explaining that since he and his friend Rowley have had a big fight, their friendship has been "history."

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 since Susan usually does the chores around the house, Greg is left with little clean clothes to wear.

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 rumor 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. Susan then announces to the family that they will get a maid named Isabella, since both parents are busy, who will help take care of the kids after school. However, instead of doing her responsibilities, such as doing the laundry, Isabella spends her time watching T.V., leaving Greg and the rest of the the family work

Meanwhile, Greg finds out that the school is having a lockdown for Saturday night, in which participants would sleep over and spend time doing activities. Greg signs up, but when he arrives, he is surprised that Rowley is also there as well. During the night however, angry parents arrive at the school, because the kids' weren't able to answer their cell phones, since the teachers took them away, making the parents worried. As a result, most of the kids go home early, leaving only Greg and Rowley.

After the weekend, Greg gets sick, due to the lack of sleep at the lockdown. Isabella then decides to invite all the other maids in the neighborhood and has a party, but is caught when Susan arrives home early to take care of Greg. As a result, Isabella is fired, giving Greg a huge relief.

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