Diary of a Wimpy Kid 13: The Meltdown

Diary of a Wimpy Kid #13

by Jeff Kinney

When snow shuts down Greg Heffley's middle school, his neighborhood transforms into a wintry battlefield. Rival groups fight over territory, build massive snow forts, and stage epic snowball fights. And in the crosshairs are Greg and his trusty best friend, Rowley Jefferson.

It's a fight for survival as Greg and Rowley navigate alliances, betrayals, and warring gangs in a neighborhood meltdown. When the snow clears, will Greg and Rowley emerge as heroes? Or will they even survive to see another day?

Genres: Fiction, Middle Grade, Humor, Childrens, Graphic Novels, Realistic Fiction, Comics

226 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2018

About the author

Jeff Kinney is an author of children's books including Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. Jeff was born in College Park, Maryland, in 1971 where he created a comic strip called "Igdoof."He also created the children's website 'Poptropica'.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greg, along with neighborhood friends and enemies, transforms winter’s cold travails into an epic snowball battle. Greg’s escapades are entertaining as always, but I found this installment to be not as clever and amusing as previous books. It started slow and sort of meandered along until finally reaching an action-packed conclusion. I prefer more action and laughs throughout, but kids will get a kick out of this one, especially the all-out snowball war.

[mewborn • i'm emo · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Diary of a Wimpy Kid is just that one series that I can't stop checking if they have new books, and reading them over and over again. It isn't one of those Harry Potter books, but it's one that I can't seem to let go! I am so excited for this new book, you have no idea!
#teenagerstillinlovewithkidbooksisperfectlynormal

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has to be my least favorite of all the books in the series.
There was nothing much going on all throughout the book.
The sketches are fine.
There wasn't any role of Greg and his family.
There is not even a clue what was going on except that it was snowing a lot.
And yes, the locality is divided into upper and lower hill according to the kids.
And there was a snow fight going on until the kids got tired in the end.
Hope the series is truly ending with this one.
I can see no improvement whatsoever.
Until and unless the family is involved or Manny grows up I don't what the series to continue.
I am really glad I am done reading those series😊

[JohnnyBear · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 out of 10

This book is my favorite Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.



The Meltdown is yet another book about Greg Heffley and his journey through middle school. This book has a very snowy setting, and it depicts Greg's town in winter. Greg is forced to go outside and play, so he gets Rowley and together they build an igloo.



The igloo eventually gets demolished. They also end up building a snow castle but then that gets destroyed as well. The next day everyone copies their castle idea, and it's all-out warfare across the neighborhood. This book is everything I wanted out of a Wimpy Kid book. The warfare is intense, strategical, and hilarious, and this book is filled with the classic Wimpy Kid humor.



I don't know what has kept me going on with the series for so long, but I'm sure glad I have because even after reading this book twice, I still consider this my personal favorite Wimpy Kid book. I love this one, and I'd definitely recommend it. Potentially, this book wouldn't be as good if this was your first Wimpy Kid book, but upon reading the previous books in the series, I really enjoyed this one. I will admit that this book still suffers from the frequent use of silhouettes that the author used a lot during this period, but I still really enjoyed this book. I had a blast!

[Molly Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

HELL ya! #13☺

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a heat wave in the middle of winter and everyone is out enjoying the sun only to find out that the next day it's cold again and it's snowing. Greg wants to get a snowmobile but his parents tell him reasons why a middle grader can't have a snow mobile. On top of that, his mum has started the screen free weekends as she thinks that technology isn't doing much good to him.

Having no other choice, he has to stay outside in the snow with Rowley and build an igloo to stay warm. When they get attacked by other kids with snowballs, Greg runs home and tells his parents what happened but his mum says that conflict is a part of growing up. His dad has other ideas though and Greg ends up listening to his dad and makes a fort but other kids catch on pretty quick and they all build snow forts and then there's a battlefield and everyone is out to get each other.

This book didn't have much to do with Greg's family but I quite liked how the neighboring kids are fighting among each other. I quite enjoyed this as much of this happens in real life and I laughed a lot reading this.

4 stars

[Heba · Rating 4 out of 5]

فاصل لطيف وجميل ومُبهج...😍
يُقال بأن داخل كل منا طفل صغير ، ولما قلت لابد وان الطفلة هى من تضحك هكذا على مغامرات "غريغ وراولي" إذ بالشخص البالغ أنا ينفي مُستنكراً ويؤكد بأنني من كنت أضحك مُستمتعة جدااا😄
مُشفقة على " راولي " يعاني في صمت 😄

[Helly · Rating 4 out of 5]

How well did I relate with Greg in this book! We share the same type of dislike for winters. Ahhh, winter please leave! I so wish to hibernate like Greg wanted to!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg suffers through a winter that starts out unseasonably warm and then takes a cold, dark turn. As per the usual, Kinney nails life in middle school, the smells, the general weirdness of your fellow students, unreasonable parents and teachers. And then, of course, it all ramps up into something cuckoo-banana-pants!

[aarav gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEST BOOK

This book was really awesome. I never want these books to finish. This book is great too pass the time if you are bored.

[Anna Melomed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than usual, when i look back to the others, this book is better. Mostly this series is boring and lacking any action. Greg acts like he is supreme and that everyone else is moron (including Rowly).

[Amr Mohamed · Rating 2 out of 5]

مذكرات خفيفة لطالب وقت الشتاء تحكي اللي شافه في المدرسة ومع اخواته بطريقة كوميدية
2.5

[Quana (the black regina george) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The crazy thing, is now that the street was plowed, there wasn't really anything left to fight over, and everyone picked themselves up and went back home. Even the Mingo kids went back to where they came from.

... And the truth is, I couldn't really remember what we were all fighting over to begin with."

LMAO.

☆☆☆☆ (4 stars)

[Alaandrain · Rating 3 out of 5]

هر چقدر هم بزرگ بشم باز هم این مجموعه کتاب جزو مورد علاقه هام خوهد بود 🥲💚
هر چند که این جلد توی مجموعه رو خیلی دوست نداشتم و به نظرم بقیشون خیلی بهتر بودن

[Ola Al-Najres · Rating 3 out of 5]

أنا من "الأطفال الكبار" الذين تعلقوا بهذه السلسلة و أعادوا مشاهدة أفلامها مراراً ، و ما زالوا ينتظرون صدور أجزاء جديدة حتى ينقضّوا عليه بجلسة واحدة ، و يقضوا وقتاً ممتعاً مع عائلة هيفلي و عثراتهم التي لا تنتهي .. 😊

[NZLisaM (On Semi-Hiatus as Moving House) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Snowflakes ❄❄❄❄❄

As always, a delight! Full review to come, but probably not until after Christmas. 🎅🎄

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these books are good, others not so much. This one had a few laughs but it was not as good as others I have read in the series.

[Reilly Zimbric · Rating 1 out of 5]

“The girls in my grade LOVE the smell of cherry cough drops. It almost makes being sick worth it”
Greg, my guy, what the fuck.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

My lowest-rated Wimpy Kid book ? Say it ain't so!

Alas, though I laughed a couple times (and teased my boyfriend for his treating of cough drops like candy, too,) this book seemed to be lacking in the humour. It just didn't seem as funny as some of the other books. Also, has there always been so much EMPHASIS using CAPSLOCK on SO MANY words in PAST books? EVERY page had AT LEAST two EMPHASIZED words, and I think that's me LOW-BALLING. That REALLY distracted me and kind of took me OUT of the story because I kept NOTICING it.

Not my favourite. I need to go back and reread all the older ones.

[Kiera LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Kinney does it again!
Greg never ceases to amuse me.
I loved the Meltdown and can't wait for the next book!
I always thought that Greg was in highschool because of all he books in the series but he's in middle school. That's like 4 books per school year. I can't wait till we get a book where Greg goes to high school. I think that would be hilarious!
Overall 4 stars!

[Rodolfo Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

this...is...one....of the most incredible books I have ever readed my favorite part is from page 150 and forward (the war between kids of surrey street)

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third installment of the popular graphic novel series focuses on winter. While those of us who live in snow-filled areas will probably be quick to relate to some of what he describes, others from warmer, sunnier climes might not be able to do so. While I liked it well enough to finish it, I wish that it had tackled some issues and been more than a series of vignettes about going to school during cold weather and building up to a big fight between two neighborhood groups. It started out promising enough with Greg Heffley, the protagonist, musing on the possibilities of global warming and climate change and expressing some concerns about his future in that environmentally-changed world, but most of it is about building a snow fort, filling it with supplies, and then protecting their structure. As often happens in these sorts of situations, Greg and his friend Rowley and their crew must even contend with betrayal from an unlikely source. I could feel the frustration, annoyance, and determination to stick it out even while things were taking a turn for the worse, and young readers will be amused to see their favorite characters working together to fend off those intruders. But any sort of meltdown isn't really present in the book or within the plot, and even the family pig, which disappears early on, is never found, which troubled me even though Greg insists that the animal has found its way to a warmer location and is quite content. All in all, this one left me slightly amused but also disappointed that the author/illustrator didn't do more with his material.

[Joanna]

I think the 13th book will be very great🙂

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the epic snowball war! These books are hilarious and great for kids.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 out of 5 stars

No matter how old I get, I will never stop reading the new books that are added to this series.

[ljhauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

i applaud jeff kinney’s brave exploration of war crimes/profiteering and the geneva convention bit was cute, but overall way too similar to “cabin fever”

[Auj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me nostalgic for my childhood in New Jersey, where I spent the winters playing outside in the snow and building snowmen (when the snow was good enough for it, which was rare).

I don't remember him ever living on a hill though, with there being a big divide between those living on the hill & those on the bottom? And a list and description of all his neighbors, which I have felt should have been included in the first (few) book(s). I guess to continue this series, Jeff Kinney sometimes has to introduce new things that weren't there in previous books.

I do wonder when Greg will graduate to high school?? It doesn't seem like ever, since the intended audience is middle school. Is there Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan-fic? lol

While the last book they went on a getaway to a beach resort amidst winter, in this book, the family was back home, living through the cold winter. I wonder what state the family lives in.

I think I only laughed out loud once, but still, I enjoyed the humor, and the book brought a few smiles to my face.

My copy of the book that I got from the library seemed particularly dirty for some reason. The front cover was covered in some black/gray substance, and I wasn't sure if it was part of the cover design. Then inside there were food stains on some of the pages.

[mak ⊹₊⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

lowkey the best book in the series 🙏

[Vikas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one more of the series which are supposedly for the kids but I still love the hell out of these books and like me some Wimpy kid action here and there. This book was again funny and the illustrations was funny and like another reviewer said my most favourite part was from page 150 and to the end and come on why not, it was simply epic and that double page spread just wow. Storywise the story is simple, it's winter but the days are hot but then it turns cold and it snows. Greg doesn't like winter like anywhere else excess of anything is wrong when you are India you dislike summer because it's just too damn hot. Ah well Greg moves through the wintry lands till his school gets closed and then the action begins which gets from worse to worst for Greg or Better to Best for us.

So do pick these awesome book, which is number 13 in the series, do pick the first 12 too and just Keep on Reading.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not usually one to get myself a copy of a new release and I haven’t done so since the Harry Potter series concluded, but I’ve been enjoying this series so much that I had to get a copy of this latest release ASAP!

I would say 2/3 of the book is very funny. The final third consists of extreme snowball warfare (more intense than paint balling) between Lower Street and Upper Street kids which eventually becomes one where other kids in the area get involved and we even have a kid who does a Lord Stanley (Richard III v Henry VII) move. Boy, did I learn a lot about warfare from the final third of the book. I won’t say this part was really funny (it was still funny), although it was executed very well and very exciting, I can definitely see children/young teens enjoying it immensely. I find myself struck by jealousy because I wanted to get involved in the snowball fight too.

Also, Mitchell Pickett is a child prodigy with awesome business acumen and when I grow up, I want to be like him. And Greg is right: there is money to be made in war especially if you are an opportunist (recalling Rhett Butler’s words in Gone with the Wind). Sad to say, perhaps terrible, but true nonetheless.