Book 1 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid - The Ugly Truth by JF Kenny
Starting the book today, I have read this one before and thought that this would be a good place to start my reading. I have always enjoyed a novel with pictures and the illustrations in these books are all ones that I can relate to and that appeal to me. I find that being interested in the illustrations and the appeal of the fonts
and the text that I am more interested in the book itself. Sometimes this helps to visualize the characters and the settings.
"See, when you're a little kid, nobody ever warns you that you've got an expiration date. One day you're hot stuff and the next day you're a dirt sandwich," Greg Heffley tells readers partway into this installment of the Wimpy Kid series. Greg negotiates a seriously difficult friendship patch with longtime best friend Rowley, his mother makes the decision to go back to school, the imminence of puberty (and dreaded accompanying discussions at home and at school - I've been there....) added to this is the fact that one can't stay a child forever—despite evidence to the contrary provided by Greg's Uncle Gary, who's embarking on his fourth marriage.
In this book, there is the sense that "all good things must come to an end" that emerges, something that inevitably will be true of the series itself at some point.
The author is so talented at spinning the details of middle-school life into comic gold—he doesn't have to worry about becoming a dirt sandwich anytime soon.
Recommended reading age is 8-12 but I read my first one younger... still go back to it now and re-read it again.
Enjoyed this book as much this time as I did the other times.
Parent low down...... nothing worse than a child reading a book that you don't know and trying to work out the questions to ask them to make sure that they have understood the story. Here's a bit of a low down on the story for you.
The story begins with Greg explaining that since he and his best 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. and eating the Heffley's snacks, leaving Greg and the rest of 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.
The following week, Greg becomes sick because lacking sleep at the Lock-In. Susan leaves him with Isabella. Greg later falls asleep and wakes up because of noise coming from downstairs and looks out his window to see cars parked in front of the house. Susan comes home to take care of Greg and finds out Isabella invited all the maids in the neighborhood to watch soap operas. Susan fires Isabella afterward. The next day, Greg sees Rowley with a pimple on his forehead and he tells Greg that his mom says he's becoming a man, in which irks Greg.
Afterwards, Greg finds out he is growing slower than Rowley. At home, Susan and Frank talk about being late bloomers. The next day, Rowley shows off his pimple to some girls, which Greg thinks is dumb so he writes a fake note to Rowley signed "The Girls" about no one liking his pimple which works. Later, Greg and Rowley are invited to a party by an older kid named Jordan Jury. Greg is excited because there are going to be girls there. After Greg tells Susan about Jordan's party, she forbids him from going because Gary Heffley (also known as Uncle Gary) is having a fourth wedding the same day.
Greg calls Rowley because he can't go to the party and asks if Rowley won't go without him, but Rowley still wants to go. Greg is worried about being the reader of the Old Testament because adults think it's cute when a kid can't pronounce a word.
On Saturday the Heffleys prepare for the wedding and Greg is nervous about getting "The Talk" from Gammie. Meanwhile, in the car, Susan calls Gammie about being late because they have to pick up Greg's tuxedo. Greg is thrilled because he thinks he's going to be a groomsman. After they arrive at Gammie's, Greg meets multiple family members including Uncle Gary and his fiance Sonja.
Later that evening, Greg has to sleep in a crowded room in a group called "The Bachelors" which include Rodrick, Manny, Uncle Gary, Benjy Heffley, Charlie Heffley (also known as Uncle Charlie), Terrance Heffley, and Arthur Heffley. Greg sneaks out and sleeps in the bathroom.
The day before the wedding, Greg complains about no entertainment at Gammie's, and how old and valuable her belongings are. The year before, Greg ate some old taffy and got sick. Then he finds a photo of his father, Frank eating it when he was a kid.
Later Greg finds out during the wedding rehearsal, he was going to be assistant flower boy to Manny, and not a groomsman. On the day of the wedding, after the ceremony, the Heffleys go into the hall where food was getting served and Uncle Gary's best man Leonard gave a toast of how Uncle Gary and Sonja got engaged.
When Gary and Sonja went to a baseball game, Gary was about to break up with Sonja so he could date her sister. But then a biplane with a banner reading "Marry me Sonja?" coincidently flew over the stadium and Sonja reacted to it. Sonja is upset after hearing that and Greg thinks they will divorce soon.