Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer

Author	Jeff Kinney
Illustrator	Jeff Kinney
Country	United States
Series	Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Genre	Children's literature Graphic novel
Publication date	October 24, 2023
Pages	224
ISBN	978-1-4197-6694-7
Preceded by	Diper Överlöde
Followed by	Hot Mess
Website

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 the upcoming Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess. The book was unveiled on May 17, 2023, with the hardcover releasing on October 24, 2023.

Plot

Greg gives his opinions on the human brain and says kids mostly use their brains when it comes to school. He also talks about how wild the kids at his school are and how he wishes they would stop fooling around and "get down to business" once school starts. He also talks about how most teachers at his school teach the class "stuff you can't even use."

After the middle school's test scores plummet to the point where it is featured on the news, the superintendent fires the current principal, Mrs. Mancy, and brings back a previous principal, Mr. Bottoms. Mr. Bottoms makes a lot of changes to the school, such as cutting some classes and creating a club called the High Flyers Club which encourages the students to get better grades, resulting in more cheating on tests.

After a lunch lady, Ms. Podsner, introduces a fudge-covered tofu dog called the "fudgedog", the test scores plummet once again due to increased visits to the nurse's office, resulting in its discontinuation. It eventually makes a return but in a different style ("fudgedog fingers").

Mr. Bottoms comes up with plans to save money and electricity for the school, which ends up causing more problems. After a while, the school's newspaper announces that the state is threatening to close the school if the students fail another standardized test in the following week and, if that happens, they will be sent to two schools in neighboring towns. Greg finds out he will be transferring to the better of the two schools, Fulson Tech, while his friend Rowley will be sent to the middle school in Slacksville, Greg's rival town. But after Alex Aruda, one of the smartest kids, is enrolled in a private school, the list flips, resulting in kids going to Slacksville when they were originally going to Fulson Tech and vice versa, causing Greg to panic. Greg's school performs poorly on the test due to bees invading the classroom and is shut down.

After finding that the quality of education in Slacksville's middle school is even lower than that of his former school, Greg gains popularity there for being able to tell the time and receives the nickname "Time Lord". He gets a girlfriend named Sophie during the first week and finds out that her grandfather is Larry Mack, the founder of Greg's former school. His son (and Sophie's father) Larry Mack Junior thinks of Greg as a bright kid because of the education he received at his old school, resulting in him reopening the school under the name Larry Mack Junior Middle School. The school's former students are called back from Slacksville and Fulson Tech, and Sophie breaks up with Greg. A sentient cleaning robot seen earlier in the book is named the temporary principal.

Reception

The book received generally positive reviews. Common Sense Media gave the book 3 out of 5 stars.

Sequel

A sequel, titled Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess, was announced in January 2024 and will release on October 22nd of that year.