Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw is a novel written by American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney, the third book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The book acts as a journal and follows the adventures of Greg Heffley, the narrator of the book, who is in the second half of his seventh-grade year. This book was released in the US on January 13, 2009.
An animated film based on the book released on Disney+ on December 5, 2025.
Plot The book begins on January 1, with Greg discussing his family's New Year's resolutions. Life becomes more difficult for Greg and his best friend Rowley when their school bus route is "rezoned" to the Whirley Street neighborhood, so they must walk over a quarter of a mile to get to and from school.
Greg also deals with being compared to his father Frank's boss's sons, who all play sports and always seem outside exercising; Frank is jealous of this. After conflicts over Greg wanting to stay inside and watch TV on Saturdays and Frank stealing his school snacks, Frank makes him sign up for intramural soccer after an incident at church on Easter; Greg, having sat on a chocolate bunny on the ride to church, had to wear his mother Susan's sweater around his pants. Later, after Manny had called Greg a "ploopy" at home, Greg calls Manny "ploopy", making the latter start crying, and the family had to leave church early.
At first, Greg rides the bench but becomes the starting goalie when the primary goalie, Tucker Fox, is injured. He takes a break to pick dandelions on the field, ultimately costing his team the game; When Frank's boss shows him the paper at work, the former is embarrassed.
After this, Frank runs into a former neighborhood troublemaker named Lenwood Heath at the movie theater, who has reformed after going to military school. Impressed with his former enemy's turnaround, Frank decides to sign Greg up for a summer program at Spag Union Military Academy (which Lenwood attended), hoping Greg will change for the better but mostly hoping this will end the embarrassment.
Greg joins the Boy Scouts to impress his dad and to try to avoid military school, as well as allowing him to quit soccer. However, he gets sick and misses their camping trip, which Frank has to go to anyway (because he agreed to be a chaperone), and has a terrible time. Later, when Greg, Frank, and Rodrick have a camping "do-over", they end up at a hotel after heavy rain, where Rodrick locks Greg out of their room in his underwear.
After this, Greg becomes more willing to accept his military school fate, and focuses his efforts on impressing his crush, Holly Hills, before he leaves. On Friday, Greg goes to a roller rink with Rowley where he knows Holly will be present, but when he approaches her, she confuses him for Fregley. As a result, Greg loses interest in Holly, and he announces he is officially done with girls. On Saturday, though, on what he thought was his only day of summer vacation, Greg unintentionally saves Frank from making a fool of himself at their neighbor's half-birthday party for their new baby.
The next day, Frank reconsiders his decision to send Greg to Spag Union, which Greg puts down to having saved Frank from embarrassment. The book ends with Greg looking forward to his summer vacation.
Reception The Last Straw received positive reviews. Positive attention was once again given to the character of Greg Heffley, with him being considered relatable. The books' style of deadpan humor was also well received.
Adaptations Live-action film
On August 3, 2012, a film based on this book, The Last Straw, as well as the subsequent book, Dog Days, was released; the movie starred Zachary Gordon, Steve Zahn, Robert Capron, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Peyton List, Grayson Russell and Karan Brar. Principal photography began on August 8, 2011, in Vancouver and was completed on October 7, 2011. A poster was leaked in March 2012. A teaser trailer was attached to The Three Stooges. An advance screening for the film was held on July 31, 2012.
Animated film
In December 2022, Kinney confirmed an adaptation of The Last Straw was in the works for Disney+. The film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, released on December 5, 2025.
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