Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

"One day you're hot stuff and the next day you're a dirt sandwich." Greg Heffley bluntly sums up the messy business of entering adolescence. There are a lot of changes this fall for Greg: Mom decides to return to school, the boys and girls at school are attending SEPARATE health classes, he and Rowley aren't really hanging out anymore, and Greg is highly aware of his peers' social strata. Greg's diary entries are lengthier and it seems odd that Rowley isn't prominent in this book. Even with the differences, the funny factor rates high. It will be interesting to see where Greg's story goes next..."Diary of a Wimpy Kid: First Date Disaster"?

As usual, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is about Greg Heffley and his endless number of mishaps. Its about growing up and facing all the hardships that come with being a kid.
Yet again, Kinney delivers to his audience. The main age group in my opinion would be 5th grade-middle school and there's plenty of relatable, yet still humorous antics going on that even I, a college student, can relate to.


There's not a whole lot to say anymore. I've already covered the big stuff in past reviews. All I can say is that this series never stops delivering. Sure, you know what to expect for the most part whenever you pick up the next book in the series, but at least its consistent. It hasn't reached a point where I've gotten tired of reading them. They show more haven't gotten old. There's still lots of laughs and all the characters have stayed consistent throughout the series. We've seen them grow and do more which is definitely fun. None of the characters have gone completely off from how know them to be. They all still follow the rules of character development and character existence. They're still believable and they're each unique in their own ways.

So what can you expect from book #5? Weeeellll, theres: a lock-in, a visit to the dentist (WHO DOESN'T LOVE THOSE!?!?!?), a squabble still lasting between two friends (I dare you to guess which two), health class, and a good ole family get together to attend a wedding.....for one uncle, for the third time. There is still much, much more going on too! I don't want to give everything away right here though. That'd be horrible of me. From parent trouble to trouble in school, this could pretty much be a guide to surviving the pre-teen years.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid is a really fun series and book #5 is definitely a great addition to any readers' collection. show less

In this fifth installment, Greg Heffley grapples with tougher truths—his friendship with Rowley falters, puberty looms, and home life shakes up with his mom returning to college. Kinney delivers classic diary‑style humor with poignant moments as Greg learns that growing up isn’t always easy or fair. A heartfelt yet hilarious read that both kids and adults will appreciate for its candid take on adolescence and loyalty.

I think that Kinney is back on track with this volume. It takes a wry look at teenage friendship and the boy-man transistion.

Kinney, J. (2010). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth. New York: Amulet Books.

217 pages.

Appetizer: When I think about The Ugly Truth, the fifth installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, I'm probably just going to refer to it as "the puberty one."

Greg seemed more concerned with aging in this book, as he had to attend a sex-ed lesson in school, received a book on puberty and a stick of deodorant gift wrapped from his mother and his father pressured him to try to take on more responsibility.

The book begins with Rowley refusing to be Greg's friend (once again). As to what they were fighting about I had no idea. I probably would have looked it up in Dog Days, but that book was all the way over there in my office at school and I was show more reading The Ugly Truth all the way over here in my home. So, I had to start out confused. (Side note--I'm also too lazy to check my own review for Dog Days to see if I left any hints about what happened. This is why I fail as a book blogger.)

Luckily, there was a lot of other stuff going on with Greg to keep me distracted: Greg's mother has decided to go back to school, meaning Greg, his older brother, Rodrick, and his dad have to help around the house and that they have to hire a maid (who may not be doing the best job ever).

My favorite scene was where Greg's dad had to help him with his math homework instead of his mom.

Greg also tries out for a role in an ice cream ad campaign, stays at a school overnight lock-in, have a role in a family wedding and receive "the talk" from his grandmother.

I enjoyed the book, but I have to say that my appreciation was back down to how I felt about the first two books. Greg was still a selfish character (but I'm not holding my breath for that to change. Besides, it's kind of nice to have a character who never learns his lesson). The Ugly Truth also lacked the critiques of classic children's books and authors that I had found so hilarious in a couple of the past books.

Plus, I (again) had some trouble with the way gender was constructed. When Greg's mom decided to go back to school, I was super excited. But then Greg has a conversation with another student, Chirag Gupta, and there was kind of this expectation that it's better for a mom to stay at home (p. 120). (Where are the stay-at-home dads?!) Then, *spoiler* at the end of the book, after one semester Greg's mom decides to put "her academic career "on hold" for a while and spend more time with the family" (p. 214.).

Sigh.

I know it's just one character. But there's never really been much of the way of dynamic female characters in the series (which is why they had to awkwardly insert Chloe Moretz into the movie version after her success as Hit-Girl in the movie Kick-Ass.

If only she'd still been playing the same character.

"What's that, Greg? Fregley is chasing you around his house, threatening to touch you with his booger? Well, he won't have boogers, a nose, an arm or feet to chase you with ever again after Hit-Girl is done with him."

Dinner Conversation:

"It's been almost two and a half weeks since me and my ex-best friend, Rowley Jefferson, had our big fight. To be honest with you, I thought he would've come crawling back to me by now, but for some reason, that hasn't happened.
I'm actually starting to get a little concerned, because school starts back up in a few days, and if we're gonna get this friendship back on track, something needs to happen quick" (p. 1).

"So, it's only been a few days without Mom, and things are already starting to fall apart. We've got one serious injury so far, and who knows what's in store down the road" (p. 60).

Tasty Rating: !!! show less

Reviewed by Preethan, Grade 10

The story follows Greg Heffley, a teenage boy who is in the transition between childhood and adolescence. In the previous book, he had problems with his friendship with his best friend, Rowley. Now he must learn to navigate middle school life on his own. The book shows him dealing with tough and awkward situations of growing up, dealing with family situations such as his uncle’s wedding, and the struggle of puberty. His mom also decides to go back to school to pursue education, creating distractions at home. He also has to deal with a field trip at his school. I liked this book because it shows the transition of life in middle school. Learning to grow up and going through puberty. I found it interesting show more how Greg always tried to find different ways to find lazy solutions for quite simply easy tasks. I think that the subplots were executed well in the book as well. Since the book also shows Greg appreciating his friend and deciding not to be as selfish, I enjoyed the friendly bonding and the character development. I would rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. The subplots like his friendship and the school field trip help paint the picture better. I liked the unusual amount of character development in this book as well. I would recommend this book to readers between the ages 10 - 13. These ages would be best to relate to middle school life and being able to understand the changes Greg is going through. I think that this book could have received a higher rating if Greg was more open to finding a new best friend. show less

Laughed 'til it hurt, again. Greg hasn't changed at all, but I don't know how long these can go on--middle school is only so many years.....