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{{about|the first book of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series|the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010 film)|2010 film adaptation]], the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021 film)|2021 animated film]], or the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online)|online/original version]] of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid that was published from 2003 until 2006|For the series as whole, click [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)|here]]}}
{{InfoBook
|title = [[File:Screenshot 2022-03-06 135850.png|275px]]
|image = <tabber>Abrams/Amulet Books = [[File:Newwimpykidcover.jpg|300x400px]]|-|Puffin/Penguin Books=[[File:version.jpg|300x400px]]|-|Cheesiest Edition=[[File:9781419729454-350x522.jpg|300x400px]]|-|Special Disney+ Cover Edition=[[File:Disneyplusdiary.jpg|300x400px]]</tabber>
|author = [[Jeff Kinney]]
|illustrator = [[Jeff Kinney]]<br>[[Chad W. Beckerman]]
|publisher = Abram Books (Amulet Books) {{c|US}}<br>Penguin Books (Puffin Books) {{c|UK}}
|date = Sunday, April 1, 2007
|pages = 217
|isbn = [[w:Special:BookSources/978-0-14-330383-1|978-0-14-330383-1]]
|number = 1 [[file:Pixlr-bg-result (14) (1).png|50x50px]]
|color = Red
|preceded = [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online)]]
|followed = [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules]]
}}
{{quote|I'll be famous one day, but for now, I'm stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons.|Greg when he first entered homeroom (6th grade).}}
'''Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal''' is a comedy book written by [[Jeff Kinney|Jeff Kinney]]. It is the very first book in the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid series|''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' book series]]. The book was released in the United States on Sunday, April 1, 2007. The cover shows a picture of [[Greg Heffley]] carrying his school backpack. 

==Main Item ==

*[[The Cheese]]

==Main Characters==

*[[Greg Heffley]] 
*[[Rowley Jefferson]]  (Main Antagonist)
*[[Fregley]]
*[[Manny Heffley]]
*[[Rodrick Heffley]]
*[[Susan Heffley]]
*[[Frank Heffley]]

See [[:Category:Diary of a Wimpy Kid characters|minor characters]]
==Synopsis==
'Let me get something straight: this is a JOURNAL not a diary... The other thing I want to clear up right away is that this was [[Susan Heffley|MOM]]'s idea, not mine.'

Things aren't going well for Greg Heffley.

He's been thrust into a new school where undersized weaklings share the corridors with kids who are taller, meaner and already shaving.

Along with his friend Rowley, Greg's desperate to prove his new maturity, which only going up a grade can bring. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, will Greg be able to reach the same heights of popularity as his best friend?

==Plot==
===September===
[[File:Diary of a Wimpy Kid1.png|left|thumb|A bully punching Greg because of his "diary".]]
In the beginning, we meet [[Greg Heffley]], a middle-schooler starting sixth grade alongside his best friend, [[Rowley Jefferson]]. Greg is adamant that what he's writing is a journal, not a diary, fearing that others might misunderstand him if they see him with a "diary." He also states that it was his Mom's idea not his. He then humorously mentions his intention to use the journal as a tool to handle future fame by sharing it with reporters rather than answering tedious childhood questions.

On his first day of middle school, Greg advises the reader to be cautious when selecting a seat since some teachers might make seating arrangements permanent. Unfortunately, Greg finds himself stuck between [[Chris Hosey]] in front of him and [[Lionel James]] behind him. He considers the idea of sitting amidst a group of "hot girls" but finds girls to be complicated, so he abandons that plan.

Greg discusses the popularity hierarchy in his grade, with [[Bryce Anderson]] reigning at the top, while Greg places himself around the 52nd or 53rd position. He tries explaining this to Rowley, but doubts that Rowley truly grasps the concept. The next day, as Greg goes to the basketball court, he spots a rotten piece of cheese, recalling the infamous [[Cheese Touch]] from the past, and hopes it won't resurface again.

Greg tries to help Rowley through adjusting, though both end up shunned by the majority of the students, mostly due to Rowley's somewhat childish antics. Nevertheless, they manage to avoid being completely at the bottom of the school hierarchy.

At one point in the book, Greg is kicked out of the house by his dad, [[Frank Heffley]], because [[Greg]] isn't getting enough exercise. So, he just goes up to Rowley's house to play video games, and then runs through the neighbor's sprinkler to make it look like he had been sweating. But he had to take a shower when [[Susan Heffley]] saw Greg.

Greg has a neighbor called [[Fregley]] that he describes, is kind of weird, and even explains about [[Löded Diper]] and how his dad dislikes the band. He manages to get a hold of Rodrick's CD, and Rowley brings his CD player to school but did not work and flicks their head to get out the headphones, but [[Mrs. Craig]] caught the two and said rock and roll are evil. After that, Greg just says "Yes, Ma'am", but Rowley bursts out in tears. Greg plays the CD at night but forgets to plug in the headphones. Turns out that the music was going through the speakers which made a lot of noise, making his dad wake up, march Greg into his room, yell at him for 10 minutes and ground him from playing video games for 2 weeks. Greg isn't the only one that's in trouble though. Rodrick gets in trouble after letting Manny bring a [[Rodrick Heffley's magazine|magazine]] with a woman on the cover lying across the hood of a car with a bikini. Student elections come up, which Greg writes negative posters about his [[Marty Porter|rival]], which causes him to let Marty win.

===October===
[[File:Greg_and_Rowley_get_sprayed_by_a_teenager.jpg|thumb|242px|alt=|A teenager spraying Greg and Rowley.]] As Halloween approaches, [[Greg Heffley|Greg]] is filled with excitement, as it's his and his dad Frank's favorite holiday. Eager to celebrate, Greg invites his best friend Rowley to join him at the [[Crossland haunted house]], and Susan joins them. However, his enthusiasm turns to regret when they encounter the terrifying Chainsaw Alley Guy, who chases them, leaving Greg spooked by the experience, but his mom stepped in and bailed the two out. Susan made the guy leave, and that was the end of the experience.

Despite the scare, Greg sees a potential opportunity to make some money and comes up with a brilliant idea. He suggests to Rowley that they create their own haunted house in the [[Jefferson family|Jeffersons]]' basement. Excited about the prospect, the two friends plan their spooky attraction, aiming to give their peers a thrilling Halloween experience. 

However, their plans hit a roadblock when [[Robert Jefferson|Mr. Jefferson]] finds [[Shane Snella]] hiding under the bed, too frightened to come out after a test run of their haunted house. Mr. Jefferson puts an end to the project, much to Greg and Rowley's disappointment. Due to the chaos caused by the scare, Rowley gets grounded by his mom, [[Linda Jefferson]], for his involvement in the misadventure.

Undeterred by the setback, Greg and Rowley come up with a creative way to stay in touch while Rowley is grounded. They use walkie-talkies to communicate, with Greg watching TV and providing Rowley with real-time updates on what's happening on the screen.

The next day, as Halloween draws nearer, Linda Jefferson surprises Rowley with a cool knight costume prop, complete with a fake sword and shield. Excited about his costume, Rowley looks forward to joining Greg for more Halloween fun, hoping for a less frightening but equally exciting experience on the big day.

Halloween night has finally arrived, and Greg and Rowley are forced to take [[Manny Heffley|Manny]] (Greg's little brother), [[Frank Heffley]], [[Jeremy Mitchell]], and [[Mr. Mitchell]]. Rowley's costume is also covered with reflective tape and his sword was replaced with a glow stick. Greg and Rowley finally break away and make up for the lost time but are sprayed with a fire extinguisher by a truckload of teenagers passing them on the street Rowley protects the candy with his shield, as Greg says about 95% of the water was blocked. Greg threatens to call 911, and when the teenagers start to turn around, he and Rowley take off and go to [[Gramma]]'s house. They make monkey noises at the teenagers from the window, but when they call [[Susan Heffley|Susan]] and say that they are going to spend the night there, she demands that they come back home. The two travel down [[Snake Road]] and manage to make it to Greg's house in one piece, but are ambushed by Frank, who accidentally splashes water on them from behind the bushes. It turns out that Frank does this on Halloween as a prank to teenagers passing by. The next day when they passed by Gramma's house, Greg noticed that the house was toilet-papered.

===November===
[[File:Wrestling_in_the_cafeteria.jpg|thumb|left|Boys in the cafeteria wrestling, due to the new P.E. unit.]] Greg becomes interested in working out and gaining muscles after being forced to wrestle with [[Fregley]] during a wrestling unit in Phys Ed. He tries to convince his parents to buy a weight set, but Susan says he has to buy it himself. Greg decides to make his own weight set, but Rowley breaks it trying to make it lighter as he found it too heavy. Greg decides to cheat on a Geography test because he sits by a map with the answers, but [[Patty Farrell]] tells the teacher that he should hide the map, causing Greg to fail. After Susan makes him sign up for the school play of [[The Wizard of Oz]], he sees the opportunity to get back at Patty. Patty earns the spot of Dorothy, so Greg  decides to be a tree so that he can peg her with apples. He gets the part but [[Mrs. Norton]] says they won't be throwing apples, much to Greg's dismay. He then tries to get cut from the play but fails.  Greg says it is really hard to screw up to get bailed out of the play.

===December===
[[File:Greg_throws_the_apple_to_Patty_Farrell_during_The_Wizard_of_Oz_play.jpg|thumb|Patty gets hit by an apple by Greg, during the play.|alt=]]Greg predicts that the play will be a disaster and whines that Mrs. Norton created a song for the trees that he dislikes. However, he is relieved that the trees could at least have armholes. The big night arrives, but [[Rodney James]] (who is playing The Shrub) gets stage fright, and it starts late. Greg hops onto the stage where Manny calls him "[[Bubby]]". Greg redirects the nickname to [[Archie Kelly]]. He decides to keep quiet when the song starts, eventually causing the other trees to be quiet as well. Patty yells from the sidelines and Greg throws an apple at her, followed by the other trees and Toto. Patty's glasses break because someone knocked them, and the play is forced to shut down. Relieved by not having to worry about his nickname, Greg starts to create his Christmas wish list, but only wants a game named [[Twisted Wizard]]. One time when Greg was a kid, he wanted a Barbie Dream House for his base. But [[Charlie Heffley|Uncle Charlie]] got Greg a doll instead of a dream house. Frank dislikes it and told Greg he should throw it away or donate. Greg decides to keep it. But then a few weeks later, he ended up in the hospital, getting his Barbie shoe out of his nose. Christmas arrives and Manny receives everything he wanted while Greg receives a framed picture of Uncle Charlie, a Lil Cutie book, and a red sweater originally for his Christmas Donation. He doesn't like either. Greg gives Rowley the book of [[Li'l Cutie|Lil' Cutie]] comics and he gives Greg a Big Wheel. Greg is then in trouble after an accident while playing with Manny on New Year's Eve (accidentally making him swallow thread he thought was a spider) and makes a promise to never to play with Manny ever again.

===January===
[[File:Greg_is_shocked_to_see_Rowley_falls_off_from_Big_Wheel_after_it_was_knocked_by_football_and_flip_over.jpg|thumb|left|Rowley does a front flip off the Big Wheel causing him to break his left wrist.]][[Greg Heffley|Greg]] makes up a game with the Big Wheel: knocking the rider off with a football. He successfully manages to knock Rowley off, but at the cost of Rowley breaking his left wrist. With Winter Break over, Rowley is babied by the girls, so Greg tries to impress the girls, but fails. He signs up for Independent Study, but all the boys are kicked off due to making a list of swear words. Greg then decides to sign up for the [[Safety Patrol]] and recruits Rowley as well. They get assigned to walk kindergartners home every day at twelve, which Greg doesn't like very much in itself. But much to Greg's delight, he gets to have free hot chocolate and miss Pre-Algebra.

===February===
[[File:Whirley_street_kids.png|thumb|263px|alt=|Hit and run by the kids by the Whirley Street kids.]] Greg wakes to a pile of snow and calls Rowley for building the world's biggest snowman, and created the base only for the snow to stop. The two then agree on rolling the snowball down the street to teach the [[Whirley Street kids]] a lesson. The following day, Greg destroys Manny's miniature snowmen, and his snowball is destroyed by Frank, much to Rowley's fury. The two get in a fight but are attacked by the [[Whirley Street kids]] who are sledding. Greg states that if the English teacher was in the scene, she would say it was "ironic". Back at school, Greg decides to team up with Rowley to create a comic strip for the school newspaper for a chance to get popular. Bryan Little has a comic called [[Wacky Dawg]]. The result is [[Zoo-Wee Mama!]], but Greg abandons the comic for [[Creighton the Cretin]]. Greg wins the contest, but his comic is changed heavily in the newspaper, which causes him to be bullied. Greg subsequently quits.

===March===
[[File:Mrs._Irvine.JPG|thumb|left|142px|[[Mrs. Irvine]] watching [[Greg]] terrorize the kindergarteners.]] Rowley is called to [[Bertrand Winsky|Mr. Winsky]]'s office to discuss him terrorizing the kindergarteners in front of [[Mrs. Irvine]] and is suspended from the [[Safety Patrol]] for the time being. Greg recalls the incident and remembers that he had chased the kids with a worm while he was wearing Rowley's coat. Susan tries to figure out what's wrong and tells Greg to do the right thing which he decides is letting Rowley take the blame. Greg tells Rowley he was the one who terrorized the kids, much to Rowley's anger. Greg says he did the right thing taking into account to follow Susan's advice, but Rowley turns Greg in. Mr. Winsky revokes Greg's membership while Rowley gets a promotion. Greg decides to get revenge on Rowley but instead warms up to him so he could come along with him to Six Flags in June. However, Rowley rejects him to Greg's anger. In the films, this is different. 

===April===
[[File:Collin_Lee-0.png|thumb|114x114px|Collin speaking to Rowley in his "best friends" shirt.|alt=]] Greg notices Rowley has been hanging out with [[Collin Lee]] and sees the two going on a sleepover. To make him jealous, Greg decides to sleep over at Fregley's house but regrets his decision after Fregley chases him with a booger. Greg falls asleep, wakes up at two in the morning, and sneaks out of the house. Without Rowley, Greg spends time in Rodrick's room and decides to become popular by winning a spot on the Class Favorites page. He then decides to go for Class Clown in Class Favorites.

===May===
[[File:TheTeenagers.png|thumb|left| The teenagers capturing Greg and Rowley.]]To win, Greg decides to make fun about [[Mr. Worth]]'s substitute, but it turns out to be Susan. He drops the idea and reads the school newspaper, noticing that Zoo-Wee-Mama has replaced his comic. After school, Greg tells Rowley that he has to give him credit for an idea they came up together, but Rowley says he was the one who came up with the comic. Greg and Rowley start a brawl, and kids started cheering them on, Greg starts ridiculously throwing his fists around, and Rowley, as Greg puts it "pranced around like a leprechaun", but finally they get ready to strike. But before they could, the group of teenagers from Halloween pull up and grab Greg and Rowley while the others runoff. They force him and Rowley to fight, but Greg is worried about something else. He spots the cheese nearby and it is looking worse than ever. The Halloween bullies make Rowley eat the Cheese, but Greg says he's allergic to dairy to get out of it. The teenagers make Rowley finish off the cheese and leave the two behind. The next day, the students wonder where the cheese went and Greg lies that he threw it away. Greg then realizes that he has the [[Cheese Touch]] now, as everyone runs away from him.

===June===

[[File:Rowley_Jefferson_Class_Clown.jpg|thumb|129x129px|Rowley in the yearbook. ZOO WEE MAMA!|alt=]]
Greg and Rowley rebuild their friendship, while Greg states having the [[Cheese Touch]] wasn't that bad. On the last day of school, he opens a yearbook and sees Rowley as the Class Clown. Greg throws away the yearbook into a trash can and says he will remind Rowley that he ate the Cheese if he gets too big for his britches. This is the end of the book.

==Film Adaption ==
===2010===
In 2010, the book was adapted into an animated/live-action [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film)|feature film]] by 20th Century Fox called "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Movie". It was directed by [[Thor Freudenthal]] and was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America. It made $75.7 million in the box office. This would later spawn three sequels. 
===2021 ===
In 2021, the book was adapted into a computer-animated [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021 film)|feature animated film]] by 20th Century Studios and Disney. called "Disney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid". It was directed by [[Swinton Scott]] and was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America. This would later spawn 3 sequels, 1 of them coming December this year.

== Trivia ==
*The book's cover picture is replaced with Greg not wearing his usual clothes and holding a treaty paper saying "Iam primum omnium, aliquid clarandum est...", which translates to "Now, first of all, something needs to be clarified..." in the Latin version.
*This book took 6 years to make.
* Even though it is the first book in the series, the original version is actually [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online)|the online version]].
*It was published by Puffin Books in the UK, but in some parts of the UK, it is published by Penguin Books. 
*However, in the US, it is published by Abram Books in most states, but Amulet Books in some others.
*The trick of Rodrick setting Greg's clock ahead of time and waking him up and telling him he's late for his first day seems to be recycled from [[Igdoof]] strip 69, where Igdoof wakes up Ralph and is reminded he's late for his test, only to look out the window and find out.
*The character page subtitles this book "Greg Heffley's Journal."
*This book was also once a #1 New York Times best-seller.
*This book covers the most months in the series at 10 months. It's the only book in the series with 10 months.
*The book has two missing words with underscores in place of each letter. One is ‘eat' on page 210, and the other is ‘Cheese' on page 217.
*Greg is the first character to appear, the second is the bully punching Greg, and the third being the news reporters.
*This is the first book to have the color red. The second one is [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down|Double Down]]. The third one is [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess|Hot Mess]].
*This book also has the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Special Cheesiest Edition|Special Cheesiest Edition]] with Jeff Kinney's signature. This is to coincide with 10 American years of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The pages are whiter with yellow siding.
*This book also has the Special [[Disney+]] Cover Edition which came out in November 23, 2021. This is to coincide with the animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021 film). The same thing was done with Rodrick Rules.
*This book is based mostly on the online version.
*This is the first e-book by Jeff Kinney that he put his signature on it on the Kindle version.
*This is the only book that Greg has 6th grade for his middle school year.
* This is the first book that starts in September, and [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules|Rodrick Rules]], [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth|The Ugly Truth]], and [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School|Old School]], and [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot|Big Shot]] are also books that start in September.
*This is the first and only (so far) book to not feature the number it is (that being 1) on the spine. Instead, it is the cheese.
**However, in the UK, some copies feature a specific object instead of the number, and some copies even feature both.
*In the Spanish, Albanian, and some other versions, the title is "Greg's Diary" instead of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".
* Real cereal brands are mentioned in the Book such as Cheerios and Cornflakes in some versions.
*It seems that, in this book, Greg may be a seventh-grader, as he talks about different things that happened the previous year, and talks about [[Darren Walsh]] and how he got a D in handwriting because of the Cheese Touch. This may have been Jeff Kinney's original intention, but, as of [[Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal|Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid]], the events are said to take place during the sixth grade (perhaps having been retconned).
*On February 24-25, 2007 at the New York Comic Con, Jeff Kinney gave out signed copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid before the book was released in bookstores.
*The gag of a booger being on a note is recycled from [[Igdoof]] strip 28.
*This is the first book to have the drawing on the cover in a page of the book. The second is The Last Straw, the third is The Getaway and the fourth is The Deep End.
*This is the only book in the main series in which parenthesis are used in the paragraphs.
*Greg saying "I thanked my lucky stars the girls were on the other side of the gym." could be a reference to 1985 Hong Kong film "My Lucky Stars" and/or it's sequels "Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars", "Lucky Stars Go Places" , "Return of the Lucky Stars", & "How To Meet the Lucky Stars".
*This is the only book that has an image aside of a paragraph.
*Soprano is not technically a bad thing.
*This is the only book that Fregley's mom appears in.

===Goofs/Errors===

*Greg says he woke up at 6:00 AM, but in an illustration he actually woke up at 8:00 AM.
*Greg is shown too tall on Page 159.
*Greg's waist is shown too high on Page 152.
*The cover art has a slightly stretched and thicker lined version of Greg. This has been corrected on an "Authentic Product" tag that appears on some T-Shirts and other products.
*On page 70, Greg has no pirate hook and it does not come back for the rest of Halloween.
**This happens to other parts of Greg's costume too such as the eyepatch.
*On page 202, Greg has pants on, but on page 203 he is wearing shorts.
*The picture on the back is from the [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online)|online version]], mirrored.
*In some versions, under the title page, it is written as "''Gregg'' Heffley's Journal" instead of  "Greg Heffley's Journal".
*In a very small amount of versions, on page 2 (and back cover), Greg writes "I'm stuck in '''high school''' with a bunch of morons." Instead of "I'm stuck in '''middle school'''" (found on Australian and New Zealand copies where middle school does not exist.)
*Greg checks to see if the cheese is ''still'' there, but it is his first year of middle school.
*On page 112, you can clearly see that [[Patty Farrell]] has a hair tie but in the next drawing, part of it is missing.
*On page 209, the teenager who has his cap backwards has black socks but on the next page it's white.
*On page 106, the paragraph is too narrow.
*On page 57, the bed that [[Shane Snella]] is under is black, although the next page, the bed is white.
*On Page 22 the guy with the glasses has a white and black hat with a white point but at the bottom of the page the guy has the hat colors but switched around so the top of it is black.
*On page 79 the poster drawn of P. Mudd at the top of the page is different than the one on the bulletin board shown below. Only "Athlete of" appears on the bottom of the poster while "Athlete of the" is written on the upper poster.
*On the Puffin Books (UK) cover, Greg is slightly too tall.
*It's almost impossible to notice but on page 92, the bottom picture is drawn differently.
**This also happens on the back cover. Though the pictures on those pages are most likely from the online version.
*Greg says he has been able to keep the 'Bubby' name a secret for five years, yet Manny Heffley is only three years old.
*Li'l Cutie is mistakenly referred to as "L'il Cutie."

==Gallery==
''See [[Diary of a Wimpy Kid/Gallery]]''

==Video==
[[File:Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney|thumb|center|300px]]

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