Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown

Author	Jeff Kinney
Series	Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Genre	Children's novel Graphic Novel 一Realistic Fiction
Publisher	Amulet Books (US) Puffin Books (UK)
Publication date	October 30, 2018
Publication place	United States
ISBN	978-1-4197-2743-6
Preceded by	The Getaway
Followed by	Wrecking Ball
Website	https://wimpykid.com/books/book13/

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown is the 13th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. The book takes place in the winter and centers on a snowball fight in Greg's neighborhood.

Plot

On a hot day in January, Greg worries about climate change and how it will impact his life in the future. When he forgets about a Social Studies assignment, his mother punishes him with no TV or video games. Greg is unable to play outside due to a rivalry between groups on his street: those who live on the straight Lower Surrey Street or the slanted Upper Surrey Street. The day after, his family unsuccessfully searches for their pet pig, which they acquired during the events of The Long Haul, that had escaped from obedience school.

Greg is frustrated at school when the kids are unsanitary, and struggles with the cold weather. While walking home from school with his friend Rowley, Greg sneaks into his grandmother's house to warm up. Greg's mother catches the two in there, but is glad that Greg was not playing video games and does not punish him.

While walking to school, Greg is stopped by the Safety Patrol, an authoritative organization of only female students. The students begin rioting the school when they fear that they will be snowed in overnight, and are dismissed early. Greg and Rowley take the bus of the rival Whirley Street, and are mistakenly blamed for having thrown a snowball at the bus driver. They are kicked off the bus and dropped off near the woods, where Greg and Rowley accidentally wander into the camp of the Mingo Kids, a savage group who live in the woods. However, they are saved when they come across Greg's father.

The next morning, Greg has to babysit his little brother Manny while his parents are away. When his mother comes home, she makes Greg play outside. He meets with Rowley and builds a snow fort, indirectly starting a snowball fight among the Upper Surrey Street kids. They agree to team up after being ambushed by the Lower Surrey Street residents, and build a single gigantic fort. A Lower Surrey Street spy infiltrates and gets the fort destroyed, when the Safety Patrol begin to attack Greg. After some Whirley Street people and the Mingo Kids get involved, Greg and Rowley try to hide in the remains of the snow fort. Suddenly, the snowplow arrives, and everyone agrees to stop fighting.

Days later, the weather begins to clear up and Greg is not worried about the pig anymore. He is glad that he made it through the snowball battle, but accepts that he cannot be a hero.