Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down

At the beginning of the book, the protagonist Greg Heffley can be seen talking about how he thinks his life is a reality TV show, and how he thinks his brothers Rodrick, Manny, and all the other people in his life are just actors and robots. He later explains how he thinks that Manny was brought in as a new star to replace him. Later, Greg talks about how all of his deceased relatives watch over him in heaven. After sending him to the book fair with $20, Susan is not happy with the way Greg spent her money and makes him trade it all in for books. Greg decides to get books from a horror series titled Spineticklers, which makes Susan more unhappy. Susan wanted Greg to join advanced classes; however, Greg failed the entrance exam due to his bad attitude and arrogance. She puts him in special classes. It works for a while until he is accidentally revealed to be a normal kid and became an outcast. As Halloween is coming up, Greg is reminded of last year when Rodrick bought a noisy electronic plastic witch, which is super sensitive to sound, and eventually got put in the basement The school has a Balloon Brigade, which is a contest to see how far a student's balloon can travel, and how the prize is a giant bag of candy corn. The Cheese Touch is also discussed, and how other students keep trying to bring it back in a different form such as a roast beef touch; however, the kids unsuccessfully try to make it work. Greg discusses how the kid who found his balloon, Maddox Selsam, came over for a playdate. It turns out that Maddox hasn't played video games or watched TV, and goes crazy when Greg pulls up a computer game. After Maddox leaves, Greg realizes that he forgot to get the balloon. Vice Principal Roy refuses to give Greg the candy corn unless he brings his balloon to school. He asks Susan for a playdate with Maddox, to which she and Mrs. Selsam leave Greg and Maddox behind while they go into town and have coffee. Greg is thoroughly disappointed by Maddox's house, as it is very old fashioned and does not have any electronics or any television, and the only toy Maddox has are Legos, but he only lets Greg use the leftovers. Greg accidentally gets a brick stuck in his arm, which Maddox accuses Greg of stealing, leading to Greg being kicked out. Susan is disappointed and angry at Greg, as he viewed Maddox as an antisocial nerd instead of a good role model. Susan, now going back to college full-time, has a chore bag where Greg and Rodrick pick chores to do. After finishing his chores, Greg goes to eat his giant candy corn that he won, but finds that the pig has eaten it. His and Rodrick’s attempts to make it to the vet failed, as the pig threw up in the car, prompting Greg to throw up as well on someone’s front lawn. This makes someone call the police because she thought it was a prank, but Greg and Rodrick soon solve the matter with them. Susan has a talk with Greg about his "pattern of deception" and punishes him by making him take three chores out of the chore bag each night. She keeps putting the pressure on Greg to do something new other than video games while also introducing him to college. Greg joins the school band in order to get invited to Mariana Mendoza's Halloween party. Susan keeps persisting Greg to try a new skill, so he decides to take an instrument, settling for a French Horn, much to the nervousness of Frank, since Greg originally wanted to take up piano but backed out. Greg, Rowley, and Susan go to the party, and Greg is later harassed at school about it for leaving early. At the Fall Band Concert, Greg and Rowley accidentally get stuck in the music room, and Greg ends up tearing his pants when he tries to escape. Frank, who took the day off from work to see the concert, catches them. Frank believes this is another one of Greg's backing-out schemes, so he punishes Greg by taking away TV and video games for 2 weeks. Greg and Rowley later find a pack of gummy worms and Greg gets the idea for a scary movie. The plot would be about a man who goes to take a shower, only to end up being eaten alive by worms. He and Rowley, while filming it with Susan and Frank's camcorder, get surrounded by geese, and get trapped in the house. Greg knows Rodrick has an awful wolf mask, which Greg thinks he can use to scare the geese away. They create a huge mess when they accidentally set off a plastic witch and makes the whole storage unit comes crashing down. Rowley runs out of the house and climbs the big tree at the side of the house with barely any clothes just as Frank gets home, and a news crew captures the whole moment. Both Frank and Susan get mad at Greg for making the mess, and for filming over a tape of Manny's first steps. Greg is additionally grounded for two more weeks, as well as having to clean up the mess and do extra chores. Meanwhile, Rowley drinks in his newfound fame and skips school to attend on-TV interviews with talk shows, much to Greg's dismay that Rowley doesn't mention Greg at all.