Books Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Last Straw Novel by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney is the third book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It picks up with Greg Heffley navigating the challenges of middle school and family life during the second half of his seventh-grade year.

The story begins on New Year’s Day, with Greg discussing his family’s resolutions. Greg and his best friend Rowley must now walk over a quarter of a mile to school due to a rezoned bus route. Greg’s father, Frank, feeling jealous of his boss’s athletic sons, pressures Greg to be more active. After conflicts over Greg’s Saturday TV habits and Frank stealing Greg’s school snacks, Frank signs Greg up for intramural soccer following an embarrassing incident during Easter church service.

Though Greg initially sits on the bench, he becomes the starting goalie after the main goalie is injured. However, Greg’s inattentiveness—he stops to pick dandelions during a game—causes his team to lose, embarrassing his father. Later, Frank runs into Lenwood Heath, a neighborhood troublemaker who has reformed after attending Spag Union Military Academy. Impressed, Frank decides to send Greg to the same military school, hoping this will “improve” him.

Greg tries joining the Boy Scouts to impress his dad and avoid military school but gets sick and misses their camping trip, which Frank must chaperone alone. Later, Greg, Frank, and Greg’s brother Rodrick attempt a camping “do-over” but end up in a hotel after heavy rain, where Rodrick locks Greg out of their room wearing only his underwear.

Despite attempts to win over Holly Hills, a popular girl in his class, Greg grows resigned to his military school fate. But after inadvertently saving his dad from embarrassment at a neighbor’s party, Frank reconsiders the decision. The book ends with Greg looking forward to summer vacation.

The novel explores themes of family pressure, self-acceptance, and the struggles of adolescence, all conveyed with Jeff Kinney’s trademark diary-style humor and cartoons.

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