Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth is the 5th book of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The book was released on November 9, 2010. It revolves around Greg and Rowley becoming ex-friends along with Rowley going through puberty quicker than Greg does. The cover shows Greg with a chicken's egg, referencing the school project that appears later in the book. Kinney initially struggled with the decision of whether Greg would be a non-aging "cartoon character" or a literary character that would age and go through puberty, deciding to make puberty one of the book's themes. Kinney also debated over whether to end the series with five books. However, he eventually decided to continue the series with Cabin Fever.

Main Characters

• Greg Heffley
• Gammie (Main Antagonist)
• Rowley Jefferson
• Manny Heffley
• Rodrick Heffley
• Susan Heffley
• Frank Heffley

See minor characters

Synopsis

Greg Heffley has always been in a hurry to grow up. But is getting older really all it's cracked up to be?

Greg suddenly finds himself dealing with the pressures of boy-girl parties, increased responsibilities, and even the awkward changes that come with getting older—all without his best friend, Rowley, at his side. Can Greg make it through on his own? Or will he have to face the "ugly truth"?

Plot

September

According to Greg, it's been two and a half weeks since he fought with his ex-best friend, Rowley Jefferson. Now Greg is in the market for a new best friend, and his only two options are Christopher Brownfield and Tyson Sanders. However, both have issues with Christopher being more of a summertime friend than a school year one since he attracts mosquitoes. As for Tyson, while they both like the same things he always pulling his pants all the way down while using the bathroom, something Greg states he can "never get past".

The only kid that isn't paired up with anybody is Fregley. However, Greg ruled him out of being best friend material a long time ago. One reason why Greg doesn't see anything changing between him and Rowley is because his parents already found him a replacement friend: a hired role-model from a company called "Cool Brian". Rowley is oblivious that he is playing with a random guy his parents made a contract with, and Greg doesn't think it would bother Rowley if he knew the truth anyway. Greg saw Rowley hanging out with a different Cool Brian and could tell he did not notice.

On the first day of school, students are given textbooks that are hand-me-downs, since the school can't afford to buy new ones. Greg attempts to score popularity points at school with a textbook that was previously owned by Jordan Jury, the most popular student in the grade above Greg's.

Greg hears Rowley tell some kid that he was going to a concert, Greg was a bit jealous until he found out Joshie was performing. Kids in Greg's grade post their pictures online and look like they're having a better time than him, so he tries posting edited photos on the Internet in an attempt to try and convince people that his life is fun (which he doesn't, or at least not above average). However, he got caught by Susan when he was in the middle of recording a New Year's Eve party. He mentions how one time Rodrick's posts were causing people not hire him, so he replaced them with a post of him in a library, reading a dictionary and wearing glasses.

In Health class, everyone in Greg's grade has to take Advanced Health, which covers what Greg calls some "top-secret" stuff. After a few days, Nurse Powell splits the girls and boys up for the day. She puts up a video for the boys to watch that talks about puberty, which Greg explains that it was possibly the same video Frank watched at Greg's age. The video turns out to be very gross and disgusting to Greg and especially Rowley. As a result, Greg theorizes that Rowley decides to stop playing with the "Cool Brian" guy, and avoids the older kids at school, because he is afraid that he is going to "catch puberty". The same kind of thing happened at an assembly, where the teacher mentioned to the school that "you will never know who will give you a cigarette, and that it could be your best friend." Greg also mentions that, after Rowley heard that, he refused to walk on the same side of the street as Greg for a month. Greg then mentions that he does not need anyone to tell him not to smoke, as his Grandpa convinced him last Thanksgiving. Greg then mentions that he thinks that Rowley is going to be one of those kids who are a few years behind everyone else maturity-wise as he doesn't even know how to tie his shoes.

While reading the comics in the newspaper, Greg found an ad that caught his eye. It was for Peachy Breeze ice cream and the ad mentions that they were looking for a new spokesperson. The original spokesperson was pretty cute but now that he's hit puberty, he doesn't seem to have the same energy or attraction. Greg claims he would be perfect for the job because he loves ice cream and would definitely miss school for fill his Peachy Breeze obligations. The only catch Greg could see is that Frank hates the Peachy Breeze ads so he won't be thrilled if he became the new spokesperson. Every time Frank sees the kid, he sends an angry letter to the company saying that the ads make him crazy, and he won't buy their products. A few weeks later, Frank gets a response in the mail and it's just free ice cream coupons.

Greg tells Susan about the Peachy Breeze contest, and she says that it seemed like an "exciting opportunity". It turns out she was thinking about Manny when she said that as they were ready to take off without him. Greg fails his audition, partly because Susan sees him as too old and partly because he dropped the ice cream when attempting to jump up and click his heels when saying the slogan. Greg explains how he is discriminated against because of his age by his own family, stating he was the center of attention when he was younger and is now ignored more often due to Manny, his younger brother. Greg is informed that his Uncle Gary will be married for the 4th time. Greg explains about "the Talk" given by his great-grandmother Gammie, a polite, but sly and clever old woman. The last person that received it was Rodrick, meaning that during the time where the wedding happens, Greg will have "The Talk". Greg is scared by this.

October

Susan announces that she will be going back to college for a few months in order to stimulate her mind. As a result, the Heffley men must take care of themselves, and most stability falls apart. Food is often ruined or not cooked properly, so they eat out. Frank sprains his ankle while chasing after Rodrick for accidentally spitting gum onto him. When the doctor asks how it happened though, Frank says he tripped on one of Manny's toy cars. Greg says that he did something similar once too, Greg broke his wrist when his legs fell asleep from sitting on the toilet too long, but he told everyone it was from a fistfight. As Susan usually does the chores around the house, Greg is left with little clean clothes to wear. Greg also complains that he must take more time to do his homework, since Susan often helps in the way of giving him all the answers indirectly and since his father, Frank Heffley, makes him do the work on his own and is helping very little.

Greg was also given the responsibility of waking himself up. He tries a wind-up clock, a better alarm clock than his older one, which didn't work. The constant ticking noise from the clock reminds him of a bomb. As for the digital clock, the beeping sound only works its way into Greg's dream and the music doesn't work either causing him to be on edge all night and therefore not get enough sleep. As a result, while trying to sleep leaning on a wall, Greg accidentally sets off the fire alarm at school in his sleep-deprived state but manages not to get caught. After the incident, the principal makes an announcement that the person who pulled the alarm should come forward and they will be punished, Greg decides not to come clean because if a principal tells you that you're going to be punished than you are less likely to do anything. After the alarm, a rumor passes throughout the school which says that the fire alarm squirts out some invisible liquid and the teachers can see the liquid. Then, a new rumor spreads that it was actually the teachers who started the rumor and it's all a trick so that security will know who was touching the fire alarm if you wash your hands. As a result of the rumors, nobody goes to the bathroom and tries to hold it in which is hard. Eventually, the school is dismissed early, because no one is washing their hands, and they are in the middle of the flu season and Frank is not happy about picking Greg up early.

Greg faces more misfortunes, such as facing a serious, ill-tempered, paranoid dentist instead of going to a fun dentist center where Greg has a crush on one of the hygienists there. Frank tells Greg he is too old to be going to a kids' dentist, despite Greg's pleas, Frank says he already did the paperwork so there was no going back. The dentist is very intimidating as he shows Greg what happens when you drink too much soda and makes Greg wear a headgear. The next morning Greg couldn't find it, so he goes to school without it. At school there is a high-grade Health class assignment, where they must take care of an egg like it is a baby. Unfortunately, all the boys throw their eggs around the hallway leaving a mess, Rowley and Greg were the only ones who didn't break their eggs. Greg tries to find a way to get the egg home without breaking it. Greg explains that he has been nervous around eggs since an incident that happened a while ago. The family was at the Snella's for a half birthday party and Greg noticed a tray full of deviled eggs. Greg had eaten them at Grandma's house but when he tasted one, he didn't like it. He didn't want to throw out an entire plateful of them so he just dumped them into a potted plant. Some time after, the Snella's noticed a really bad smell in the house and tried to get rid of it. They tried shampooing the carpets, but that didn't work, next they thought an animal died in the walls so the got a carpenter to tear up the walls. Eventually they couldn't stand the smell anymore so they moved out and Greg felt really bad that they were taking that potted plant with the eggs in it. After he gets home, Greg tries to figure out where to keep it, he rules out his closet because Manny ripped up some comic books hidden there and even got ahold of Greg's headgear. Greg decides to leave the egg in the fridge, unfortunately he couldn't find it the morning because Susan cooked it. When he gets to school, he tries to find someone else's egg as his own, but all the girls have decorated their eggs with jewels and glitter. Rowley had drawn on his with crayon so that would not work either. After Nurse Powell collected the eggs, she dumped them in the trash causing Rowley and the girls to have a meltdown. Greg is dealing with an extremely lazy maid named Isabelle whom Susan hired to clean the house since she is at school. The maid doesn't do Greg's laundry by stalling with questions such as "do I separate the lights and darks?", eats some of the Heffley's junk food, hogs the TV, and takes naps in Greg's bed.

At school, a "Lock-In" is organized where boys and girls Greg's age have a supervised slumber party in the school auditorium. It turns out to be a disaster, as there are nearly little to no girls, excess amounts of chaperones, even though kids brought electronics to keep them busy, while Greg who brought nothing of entertainment could only hang out at a kid themed fun zone, all technology is confiscated. There are party games which bore Greg (as well as the other kids), and during a break all the kids try to eat snacks but people's snacks are taken as there was a strict "no snack" rule. Greg got his sour candy taken from him, it turns out a kid named Justin was acting as a mole for the adults, one kid managed to not get his snacks taken but had to dispose of them. Later on they play a game of Guess Who where the kids take close up pictures so everyone can figure out who it is. The kids go crazy when they see the camera since this is the first piece of technology they've had access to this whole. While an incident occurs where the chaperones think one of Greg's team members photographed their posterior. At first Greg and his friends try to hide but they are all found, (except for one). The teachers scold them for photographing a student's behind, until Tyson Sanders tells Mr. Tanner that the picture was actually of his elbow. Later on, they head back to the auditorium and while George terrifies some kids with his outie, Greg goes to brush his teeth, around 11, everyone is told to settle in for the night, the boys will be sleeping in the auditorium while the girls sleep in the library. Later on, the boys fart in their sleeping bags and Mr. Tanner tells them they need to go behind the curtain if they have to "pass gas", so they start to make fart noises behind the curtain. After David Rosenburg brings a tuba from the music room, the heater turns off and the air conditioner goes on. Pretty soon, it is so cold in the auditorium that the boys pack themselves together "like sardines" to preserve body heat. At about one o'clock in the morning, the boys notice a guy from the towing company towing Mr. Palmero's car, parked in a handicapped spot. They try to get his attention to break them out of the school, but he never hears them. At three, there is a pounding sound on the door that wakes all the kids up. There is a bunch of angry parents standing outside. Apparently, the parents were trying to call their kids to make sure they were okay, but due to Mr. Tanner taking all the cell phones, they got into a panic because, of course, no one replied. The parents who came to the school take their kids home with them, leaving Greg and Rowley, the only two kids without cell phones.

November

Greg gets sick with an unknown illness, which he suspects is because the experience at the lock-in was "too much for his body". Susan tells Greg she is going to the library to study, which disappoints Greg since the only positive thing he sees about sickness is being fussed over. At noon, he sees a lot of cars parked on their lawn in his window, and he could hear a lot of talking and the TV downstairs from his room. When Susan decided to come home from the library early to take care of Greg, she finds out about the maid's laziness, as well as finding her watching a soap opera with other maids. After this, she fires Isabella for good which Greg is pleased to hear especially since he won't have to check his bed for pantyhose.

Greg then recovers and goes back to school, where Rowley arrives with a large pimple on his forehead. He explains that his mother told him he is "becoming a man". This makes Greg wonder about when he'll start puberty, but after talking it over with his parents, they both reveal that they were actually both late bloomers, so he probably won't be starting puberty for another few years or so if he's anything like them. Rowley continues to show off his zit, even to the girls. This gets on Greg's nerves so he forges a note from the girls telling Rowley no one likes his zit. After reading the note, Rowley believed it and put it to rest.

The next day, Greg and Rowley are both invited to one of Jordan Jury's notoriously wild parties. Greg thought that maybe it was his book and/or Rowley's pimple that made Jordan invite them, but it was pretty clear that because they were best friends was why they were invited together. Greg then explains about the wild parties Jordan Jury holds, which are legendary and have a lot of girls in there. Greg happily replies that they will both be there which they are glad to hear.

Unfortunately for Greg, Susan doesn't let him go, because the party takes place on the same weekend as his Uncle Gary's wedding. Greg tries to promise that he will go to Uncle Gary's 5th wedding, but Susan tells him that he is playing a major part in it, and he can't let Uncle Gary down. Greg calls Rowley and tell him that he can't go since Greg has a wedding to go to. Rowley angrily replies that he doesn't care, and he is going since he is almost a grown-up now.

Greg is humiliated and bored at the wedding for many reasons. Mostly, Greg thought he was a groomsman at the wedding party and would have a good time when Susan had explained to Gammie that they are picking up Greg's tuxedo. After they arrive at the house, much of the family is there, Greg then talks about the family there and while many members haven't changed like Great Uncle Arthur, some like his little cousin Benny have changed. Greg talks about how Gammy's house is not very kid friendly as there are no toys to play with and it's all antique. The kids did talk to Susan about this once and she got them some Lego to play with but Gammy glued them into one big block due to the amount of pieces on the floor. A lot of the decorations and mantle items are old, there is even a jar of candy which Greg had a piece of one time. Unfortunately Greg got very sick later on, as it turns out Greg's dad had a piece of that exact same candy when he was younger then Greg. Whenever they have a wedding trip, Greg, Roderick and Manny all bunk with the Bachelors (the unmarried men) since they are short on space. Greg eventually cannot take the snoring any longer so he goes to sleep in the bathroom, when Tammy came in the next morning for a shower Greg immediately woke up. During the day of the wedding, Greg finds out he is actually the Assistant Flower Boy, and he is actually wearing the same white tuxedo as Manny, much to Greg's dismay because he finds the job embarrassing and not as interesting as being a groomsman. He did try to pass his flower boy duties to his cousin Benjy, but he was a reader so that was not possible. During the Wedding dinner one of Gary's friends Leonard tells a story about how Gary planned to break up with Sonja at a baseball game and started dating her sister. However, a plane carrying a marriage proposal for another Sonja flew overhead making Sonja think it was for her. Gary admits that it was true which Sonja doesn't take very well and likely divorced soon after. Greg mentions that they'll likely come back for Gary's fifth wedding next year. After the wedding, Greg receives "The Talk" from Gammie, which he has been nervous about. Gammie explains to Greg the stress and horrors of becoming and being an adult and growing old both physically (such as pimples and, at old age, wrinkles) and mentally, even though his dad and Uncle Joe were trying to prepare him for adulthood Greg decides to enjoy his late childhood for now and be like Uncle Gary. As Gammie starts rolling down her sock, Greg excuses himself and leaves.

Once Greg gets back to school, he realizes that while the wedding may not have gone well, it's ultimately a good thing that he didn't go to Jordan's party—while the party itself was apparently pretty crazy, it turns out that the only reason that Jordan invited kids from Greg and Rowley's grade to the party was to basically use them as servants. Greg also discovers that Scotty Douglas won the Peachy Breeze competition, although he didn't get the slogan right, Greg also points out they should have seen Scotty's older brother before deciding.

At this point, Susan stops going to college for now and returns to the family, much to Greg's delight. Also, Greg and Rowley ultimately become friends again after Greg decides to make the first move in patching things up instead of just waiting for Rowley to come to him. Greg says that he forgot what he fought about with Rowley. The book ends with him explaining that Rowley has grown a whole inch and a half since the summer, and he explains they can take it one step at a time and can be friends, at least until high school because Rowley can be a good person he can have at his side.

Trivia

• Many people believed that this book's color would be black before the announcement of the official color. Similarly, before this book's real title was revealed, some fans referred to it as Diary of a Wimpy Kid: My Last Year.
• This is the first book to be released after the first live-action film.
• This is the first purple book. The second one is Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown.
• This book is the last appearance of the Snella Family due to them moving out.
  • However, they are mentioned in Cabin Fever.
• Jeff Kinney said in a tweet that he was going to call this book "Rowley's Revenge", and the cover had Greg trying to get out of the sewer by opening the cover, but Rowley stomps on the cover, hurting Greg. ^[1]
• An error occurred where the start of the book was part of the end of Dog Days. However, this was fixed.
• This book features more characters than any other book in the series.
• This is the third book to feature Greg's trademark frown on the cover.
• Jeff Kinney thought of ending the series with this book at first but he continued to write more books in the series.^[2]
• This is the third book in which Greg does not mention his Diary.
• Frank and Susan both claim to have been "late bloomers" when it came to puberty and figure that Greg will end up being the same way. Frank also claims that, if Greg's anything like him, he probably won't grow that much facial hair -- Frank reveals that, despite being well into adulthood, he only ever needs to shave once a week or so.
  • The average age for boys to start puberty is 11 to 12 while the average age for girls to start puberty is 10 to 11 (or sometimes 8 to 9). To be a "late bloomer," a kid would have to be around 13 or so. Assuming that Greg ends up being a "late bloomer" like his parents were, he probably won't start puberty until after he gets done with middle school.
• The word "alarm" appears on every page from pages 75-81.
• This was the last book, until Wrecking Ball, where more than two months are covered.
• In television commercials of this book, pages from Greg Heffley's Journal, Rodrick Rules and The Last Straw are animated, but none of the pages from The Ugly Truth are ever seen in the commercials.
• This is the first book to be released in the 2010s decade.

Goofs/Errors

• On page 112, Frank's right arm is missing, but this was fixed in reprints.
• On page 134, it says that there was at least 1 chaperone for each kid, and most of the chaperones were parents. This would mean a large volume of parents, (practically most of them) would be chaperoning. Later however, every parent is shown to somehow be outside and to be taking their kids home. This would be impossible due to most of the kids having phones that were called, (everyone but Greg and Rowley) which would mean every parent coming to the school, which would be impossible, since most of those parents were chaperoning.
• On page 46, Mrs. Mackelroy is shown to wear a plain white skirt and black shoes, however on page 48, she wears a black and white striped skirt and white shoes.
• Löded Diper is a misspelled name and Greg says that Rodrick doesn't know how to spell his band name properly but, in this book, Rodrick spells "diaper" correctly but it is possible that he spelled it wrong on purpose.
  

Gallery

See Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth/Gallery

Video

Here is the trailer for The Ugly Truth.