Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer is the 18th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. It is a sequel to Diper Överlöde and the predecessor to Hot Mess. The book was unveiled on May 17, 2023, with the hardcover releasing on October 24, 2023.
Plot Greg tells his opinions about the human brain which kids use their brains when it comes going to school. He explains that brains will forget things and imagines a school in which brains attend rather than humans.
After the school test scores fall due to the underperformance of the teachers, the school fires its current principal, Mrs. Mancy, and pulls the old principal, Mr. Bottoms, out of retirement to be in charge of the school. Bottoms makes rules from creating the High Flyers Club to going to the restroom under a minute; they all failed because kids bypass them just to skip classes. Later, Greg explains about a car dealer named Larry Mack (the namesake of the school), who began his car dealership business by stealing money from the school and has a statue placed in the frontyard, which leads to his arrest and letting his son, Larry Mack Junior to take his father's steps.
Then Greg describes the popularity of fudgedogs, which was created by accident by a lunch lady named Mrs. Podsner, but the problem worsens when the test scores fall because of students rushing to the nurse's office because of fudgedogs. The principal makes a compromise to reintroduce the product but under a new style ("fudgedog fingers")
After a series of setbacks at the school, Mr. Bottoms announce to raise money by changing the school's name, a town named Slacksville bids to change the school's name to "Slacksville Rules! Middle School" but the principal refuses because of the dispute between the two.. Later the school hires the exterminator who had his contract canceled from the school and officially changes its name to "1-800-DED-BUGS Middle School", causing an outrage from parents while Bottoms introduces the Platinum High Flyers Club where students can pay $12.99 per month to enter the club which offers perks such as a tiny bag of peanuts or full-size candies.
Later, Greg's parents joins the annual PTA auction and Susan wins the "Principal for the Day", leading Greg to be in charge of the school the next day. When he enters, Mr. Bottoms appears to be in a hurry to leave and then gives his job to Greg. In the middle of his job, he suddenly gets into a meeting where teachers are frustrated because of the new rules and quits because of it. The next day, the school's papers announces that the whole school will close down if scores doesn't improve so everybody was in the state of panic when half are going to the newly-opened Fulson Tech while the other half is going to Slacksville. On the day of the test, a swarm of bees causes havoc during the exam, leaving students being stung; because the state refused to give the school a do-over, the school closed for good.
Greg goes to Slacksville Middle School while Rowley goes to Fulson Tech. While at Slacksville, he becomes popular when he tells them how to read time (giving him the nickname "Time Lord") and introduces fudgedogs to the students at Slacksville Middle School; during his spare time, he meets a girl named Sophie and asks him to go on a date. After accepting her offer, Greg realizes that the girl's father turns out to be none other than Larry Mack Junior, and during the date, he speaks perfect Latin to his former Latin teacher, Mr. Leyton, at a restaurant. Larry Mack Junior later realizes how good Greg Heffley was and he decides to renovate and reopen the school but with a new name after himself, which also led the students to go back to their new school. Sophie broke up with Greg because she didn't want to date long-distance.
After the school was reopened, they let the sentient cleaning robot to be their temporary principal while Mr. Bottoms declined to return.
Reception The book received generally positive reviews. Common Sense Media gave the book 3 out of 5 stars, while Sue Mauger on Glam Adelaide admired the book, giving it 4 out of 5 stars. Kirkus Reviews commented, "Collectively a bit much, but taken in small doses, this is a savage rib-tickler."
Sequel A sequel, titled Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess, was announced in January 2024 and released on October 22 of that year.
Notes As seen from Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot.
References