by Jeff Kinney
Hard Luck
The Long Haul
Old School
Double Down
The Getaway
The Meltdown
Wrecking Ball
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2
3
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5
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9
10
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ALSO BY ROWLEY JEFFERSON
GREG HEFFLEY'S
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOKS
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Rodrick Rules
The Last Straw
Dog Days
The Ugly Truth
Cabin Fever
The Third Wheel
Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid
AMULET BOOKS
New York
by Jeff Kinney
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used
fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained
from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4197-4909-4
eISBN 978-1-64700-166-7
Text and illustrations copyright © 2020, Wimpy Kid, Inc.
ROWLEY JEFFERSON’S AWESOME FRIENDLY ADVENTURE™ and the
design of the book’s cover are trademarks and trade dress of Wimpy Kid, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Jeff Kinney and Marcie Lawrence
Book design by Jeff Kinney
Published in 2020 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights
reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the
publisher.
Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity
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Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact
[email protected] or the address below.
Amulet Books
®
is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
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195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
abramsbooks.com
CHAPTER 1
2
Once upon a time in a land far away there
lived a boy named Roland. And Roland
was a very good boy.
Back then school hadn’t been invented
yet so most kids worked on their family
farms all day.
But Roland’s parents thought it was
important for their son to get an
education and to learn to play an
instrument. So he spent his days inside,
reading books and practicing the flute.
Roland didn’t like practicing the flute
very much but he never complained
because he wanted to be a good son.
3
It was a dangerous time when ogres
and giants roamed the land. So Roland’s
parents liked him to stay indoors where
it was safe, especially after dark.
4
Roland had never even been outside
his village. He wished he could go on
adventures like his grandpa Bampy the
Brave who used to fight monsters and
search for treasure.
But Bampy was never the same after he
got back from his adventures. And Roland
knew that was because Bampy didn’t
always wear his helmet and he got hit on
the head a few too many times.
5
Roland promised his parents that if he
went on an adventure he’d ALWAYS wear
a helmet and he’d make good choices. But
they said he’d be much safer staying at
home and practicing his flute.
So the only thing Roland could do was
read stories about Bampy and imagine
what it would be like to have adventures
of his OWN.
6
Sometimes after Roland read about the
monsters in Bampy’s stories he’d get kind
of SCARED and then he’d have to sleep
in his parents’ bed for a few nights. But
his parents probably didn’t mind because
they loved him very much.
Most of the time Roland’s dad worked
from home but once or twice a month
he’d go on a business trip to another
village. And Roland’s dad would always
say the same thing when he left.
7
Right about now you’re probably thinking
“So far this is a pretty boring book.” But
just wait because in a second it’s about to
get really GOOD.
This one morning when Roland’s dad
was on one of his trips something totally
CRAZY happened. Roland woke up early
to practice his flute but then it got really
COLD in his room.
And when he looked out the window he
couldn’t believe it was SNOWING.
8
Oh yeah I probably should’ve mentioned
that this was the middle of the summer
because then you’d be even MORE amazed.
Roland ran down to the kitchen to tell his
mom about the snow but he couldn’t find
her ANYWHERE.
So Roland went outside to ask his
neighbor Mrs. Nettles where his mom was
because Mrs. Nettles was pretty nosy and
she always knew everybody’s business.
But that’s when Roland got some really
bad news.
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Mrs. Nettles said the White Warlock
came to the village and KIDNAPPED
Roland’s mom. And he took her to his Ice
Fortress where he was keeping her as his
PRISONER.
Now Roland was TOTALLY FREAKED OUT.
You’re probably thinking “Well why didn’t
Roland just call his dad?”
But guess what? Phones weren’t invented
yet so he COULDN’T.
10
Plus if Roland mailed his dad a letter to
tell him what happened it wouldn’t get
to him for a long time because back then
the mail took FOREVER.
Roland was worried about his mom but he
was ALSO worried what his dad was going
to say when he got home from his trip.
Roland decided the only thing he COULD
do was travel to the Ice Fortress and
rescue his mom on his OWN.
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But Roland knew the journey was going
to be dangerous so he went down to the
basement and got Bampy’s old armor out
of a musty chest.
And even though Roland was a little
nervous about monsters and sad about
his mom getting kidnapped he was also
EXCITED because he was about to go on
his first ADVENTURE.
ef
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After I wrote the first chapter of
my book I showed it to my mom who
said she was proud of me for using my
imagination. Then she said she couldn't
wait to find out what happens NEXT.
I haven't shown it to my dad yet because
I wanna FINISH it first. And when I'm
done I'm gonna ask him to read it to me
as my bedtime story. But I'll pretend I
don't know what's gonna happen so it'll
still be SPECIAL.
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I was pretty excited to show the book
to my best friend Greg Heffley because
he likes stories with dragons and wizards
and that kind of stuff and I figured he'd
think it was pretty awesome.
But I couldn't really tell if he liked it or
not because at first he didn't say much.
I asked Greg what he thought of the
story so far and he asked me if I wanted
his honest opinion or if he should tell me
what I WANTED to hear. And I said I
wanted his honest opinion.
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But Greg reminded me that the LAST
time I asked for his honest opinion it got
him in TROUBLE. That was the time
I showed him my tap-dancing routine
after taking my first lesson.
Greg told me he thought it was terrible
and that hurt my feelings. So I told his
mom what he said and she wasn't happy.
15
Greg said if he told me his honest opinion
about my book and it hurt my feelings I
wasn't allowed to go running to his mom.
So I said OK and we did a pinky swear.
After that was settled Greg told me
all the things that were wrong with my
story. And boy he had a LOT to say.
The first thing he said is that I can't
start the book with "Once upon a time"
because that's corny and it makes it
sound like a fairy tale. And that kind of
hurt my feelings right away because it's
SUPPOSED to be a fairy tale.
Then Greg said no offense but this
Roland character has got a lot of
problems and the biggest one is his HAIR.
16
He said Roland has a mullet which is the
worst type of haircut a person can have.
I said the reason Roland's hair is long in
the back is so he'll look cool when he does
action stuff.
And Greg said maybe Roland can get a
haircut at the beginning of Chapter Two.
17
Then Greg said no offense but Roland
kind of seems like a BABY and it's not
really believable that a kid his age would
sleep in his parents' bed.
And that made me feel a little ashamed
because sometimes I sleep in my parents'
bed, especially on nights when there's a
really bad thunderstorm.
Greg taught me a long time ago that
if you say "no offense" then the other
person isn't allowed to have hurt feelings
about what you say AFTER it.
18
But I think that only works with kids
because one time I tried it on my dad
and he got mad.
Greg said the book was gonna be too
boring if it was only about Roland and
that he needed a SIDEKICK. I said maybe
Roland could have a best friend who goes
WITH him and his name could be Greg
Heffley.
But he told me everything about his life
is "copyright Greg Heffley" and if I used
his name I'd have to pay him MONEY. So
I decided to make up a different sidekick
for Roland because I don't want any
trouble with Greg.
19
Greg said he didn't know if he could read
a book about a boy who has to rescue
his mom because that's a little too
WEIRD. So I said maybe I could switch
out Roland's mom for a PRINCESS and
Roland could rescue her INSTEAD.
But Greg said nowadays princesses are
tough and know how to fight so they
don't NEED some guy to rescue them.
20
He said if I wrote a book about a helpless
princess who needs to be saved by some
dude then I'm gonna get a ton of angry
letters.
Well that got me kind of worried because
I don't WANNA get a bunch of angry
letters. But Greg said I could put my
publisher's address on the back of the
book and then all the angry letters would
go to THEM.
I said I was just writing the book for
MYSELF and that I wasn't really
TRYING to get it published. But Greg
said if I was gonna do all this work I
might as well try to cash in.
21
He said that if my book gets published
I'll have to think about movies and toys
and T-shirts and swimwear and all sorts
of OTHER stuff too. And that sounded
complicated.
Then Greg said he'd make me a DEAL. He
said I could focus on the writing and he'd
handle everything ELSE. Then we'd split
all the profits fifty-fifty.
I was excited because that meant me
and Greg were gonna be PARTNERS. So
we did another pinky swear to make it
OFFICIAL.
CHAPTER 2
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Even though Roland felt pretty brave