Summary[]
Cover
It is the Christmas holiday season, and Greg is becoming a nervous wreck due to the constant pressure to behave and act sensible for the entire month of December being put on him by his parents. He is also nervous because Santa can "see him when he's sleeping and know when he's awake" and is doubtful if he will make it onto the naughty or nice list. To make matters worse, Greg's mother stumbles upon "Santa's Scout", a magical elf toy that observes the behaviour of children and then reports back to Santa at the North Pole, which causes Greg to become even more anxious around Santa's scout which is placed in the kitchen.
Greg is also in trouble with the police. Greg tries to sell "Drummies" (chicken drumsticks) for a lower price than the school. He and Rowley go to put up posters to advertise their idea. His latest money making scheme backfires when neon green paint from the posters leak onto the school wall, due to rain. When Greg and Rowley see the ruined wall, they flee the crime scene. After Rowley makes an anonymous tip to the principal, Greg is caught and has to clean off the paint by himself, even when he told Vice Principal Roy the true story. When Greg returns home, there is a note from the police and Greg assumes it is because of the poster incident and thinks that the police will send him to prison.
Soon a blizzard arrives and Greg, Rodrick, Mom and Manny are snowed in. Dad is unable to come home because the roads are closed, so he stays in a nearby hotel. Rodrick and Greg have to take care of Manny when Mom goes blind since Manny crushed her glasses. The basement gets flooded, destroying many mementos and scrapbooks, some of which Greg didn't like at all. Eventually they start to run out of food and the power goes out. However, Rowley soon comes over, only to bring some Christmas cookies. Greg asks that if their power was out and Rowley tells Greg that the power was never out, using the entire neighborhood as proof. Dismayed, Greg checks the circuit breaker and sees all the power is off, except for Manny's room. Manny admits he did it, and Greg gets angry at him for cutting off the power and having all the food to himself. Manny reveals that he only did it because no one taught him how to tie his shoelaces (although he would rather have Mom tie his shoes in the end), and Greg gets the power back on.
Greg's dad is able to get home on Christmas Eve (which Mom calls a "Christmas miracle") and gives them all more food which they eat happily together. Later, the police come over and Greg realizes that they only came over before for old toys for the toy drive and learns that he wasn't in trouble after all. Later, Greg shows up in the police station and shovels the pavement in order to find money, but he is caught in the local paper and is deemed a "hero" for paving the way to the re-opening of the soup kitchen, allowing people to come and eat at the church on Christmas, when actually he was searching for giving tree celebration money at church. Greg plans to write about himself as the hero on the newspaper he made up called 'The Neighborhood Tattler'.
Back Cover Reviews[]
Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid is the new wizard of the book biz. -Parade Magazine
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is the big fish in publishing now -The Hollywood Reporter
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is bent on world domination -Time magazine
One of the most successful children's series ever published -The Washington Post