Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Hard Luck

Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid Hard Luck is a funny diary for 9 year olds about a boy whose best friend has gone and got himself a girlfriend.

What happens

Greg Heffley can't believe it. He always thought Rowley would be the one everybody felt sorry for! Now Abigail sits at their lunch table and walks to school with Rowley. Rowley doesn't even have his own opinions any more (it's all "we" this and "we" that).

So Greg's on his own. There's nobody to scout the pavement for dog poo on the walk to school (you can guess how that ends). He even presses the playground's Find a Friend button, and the only one who comes over is a teacher with a box of draughts.

His next plan is to turn Fregley from up the road into his new sidekick. Let's just say it involves bubble gum and a belly button, and it doesn't go the way Greg hoped.

Then he finds a Magic 8 Ball under his big brother Rodrick's bed, and from then on it makes his decisions for him. Which after-school club to join. Whether to bother with his Science Fair outline. Whether to run or fight when a kid from the woods comes after him with a stick. What could go wrong? Plenty, starting with a true or false test.

There's a family mystery going on too. Great-granny Meemaw's diamond ring went missing the year she died, and the last time Mum's side of the family got together it ended in a huge row. This Easter they're all back at Gramma's, and a psychic's tip sends the grown-ups hunting round the garden for old plastic eggs. I'll leave your reader to find out where that ring ends up.

It's set out like Greg's own notebook. Handwriting-style text on lined paper, short dated entries and a cartoon on every page. The Magic 8 Ball's answers get a big black circle all to themselves (IT IS CERTAIN). If your reader can manage a chapter book alone, they could easily finish this in a sitting or two.

The best bit is being inside Greg's head. He's VERY sure everyone else is the problem. But there's real feeling in it too. Watching your best mate drift off with someone new is something lots of us remember from school.

It's the eighth of Greg's diaries (The Long Haul comes next), and he explains who's who as he goes. It's American, so expect Mom, middle school and dollars.

What to read next

If they want more Greg and Rowley, try Dog Days from earlier in the series. Their friendship wobbles there too, this time over a country club bill for eighty-three dollars of fruit smoothies.