Jeffrey Patrick "Jeff" Kinney (born February 19, 1971) is an American game designer and author of children's books including the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. He is also attributed to be the creator of the children-oriented website Poptropica. Kinney attended Pittsburgh high school in Pittsburgh and currently lives in Tustin, California with his wife and two sons Will and Grant.
Hot Mess
Hot Mess
Synopsis
One enormous family plus one beach house equals a recipe for disaster for Greg Heffley. In book 19 of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Greg's cool summer vacation is feeling a lot more like a meltdown.
The Heffleys decamp to a cramped beach house for Gramma's birthday, and Greg quickly discovers that when you mix heaps of relatives, sweltering heat, and no air conditioning, something is going to boil over. There's no privacy, nowhere to hide, and way too many family secrets rising to the surface — not least the closely guarded ingredients behind Gramma's famous meatballs, a recipe the family has protected for years.
Between beach mishaps, warring aunts and uncles, and his own scheme to make it big online, Greg has one summer to unpack his family's mysteries before the vacation ends. A sun-soaked, laugh-out-loud story of family chaos and heatwave-level awkwardness, told in the cartoons-and-diary-entries format that made the series a global hit — for readers aged 8 to 12.
Vibe
Genres
Characters
Greg HeffleyProtagonist
Stuck in a cramped beach house with his whole extended family for the summer.
GrammaSupporting
Greg's grandmother, whose birthday the family has gathered for — and whose famous meatball recipe is a closely guarded secret.
MannySupporting
Greg's younger brother.
SusanSupporting
Greg's mother.
Aunt GretchenSupporting
One of the relatives crowded into the beach house.
Places
Edition
Hot MessHardcover, 2024
224 pages
Amulet BooksLanguage: EnglishISBN: 9781419766954You May Also Like
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Frequently asked questions
Do I need to read the previous books in the series to understand this one?
The series is designed so that each installment functions as a standalone story, meaning you can jump into this book without having read any of the earlier entries.
How does the format of this book compare to others in the series?
Like the rest of the series, this book maintains the signature hybrid format consisting of approximately fifty percent text and fifty percent hand-drawn cartoons.