Author-illustrator Jeff Kinney is back this fall with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball, book 14 in his mega-selling middle grade series. The book releases worldwide on November 5 from Abrams’s Amulet imprint.
As part of the launch, Kinney will hit the road with “The Wrecking Ball Show,” an interactive performance inspired by the book’s construction theme. The show will offer fans the chance to build their own cartoons, face off in trivia, bust out their dance moves, and more. Touring the Midwest in a Wimpy Kid bus, Kinney will stop in Austin, Houston, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, Omaha, St. Louis, and Wichita, in partnership with local indie bookstores.
Stores in three additional cities will host Kinney as well: Barnes & Noble in Dallas, Books-A-Million in Des Moines, and Costco in Kansas City. He will also visit children at several elementary schools. In addition, the author will travel abroad this season, visiting Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Kinney said in a statement, “I am thrilled to be going back on the road in November to revisit the Midwest. This year, our interactive stage show is going to be over the top, with an exciting demolition theme. I look forward to building new memories by sharing this year’s show with fans new and old!”
Kinney is no stranger to the stage. Last November, he trod the boards with “The Meltdown Show” on the East Coast, a live performance based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid 13: The Meltdown.
The Wrecking Ball campaign also includes national and social media advertising; extensive retail promotions; educator and librarian outreach; and the Greg Heffley balloon at the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In addition to book 14 in the series, Abrams will release Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Best Friends Box, a boxed set containing Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1 and the spinoff book Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, and the Wimpy Kid 2020 wall calendar.
Taking Action
Wimpy Kid is going global in another way this fall, as PepsiCo Recycling teams up with Kinney for the “Be Awesome! Recycle” campaign. The partnership will support PepsiCo’s Recycle Rally program, which provides U.S. K–12 schools with free resources and incentives for environmental action.
“Peers have an enormous influence on social norms, and it is important to instill behaviors like recycling at a young age,” said Tom Mooradian, senior manager of Environmental Sustainability at PepsiCo. “By incorporating the Wimpy Kid world into this year’s campaign, we’re aiming to showcase recycling behaviors in a fun, relatable way that will enable today’s students to see recycling in a whole new light and make it a gratifying part of their daily lives.”
The campaign features Diary of a Wimpy Kid character Rowley Jefferson—also the protagonist in Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid—urging kids to recycle, with the motto “awesome kids care.” Kinney designed an exclusive cartoon for the initiative. Participating schools can choose to receive the Rowley cartoon in various forms, including stickers, tattoos, T-shirts, posters, and recycling bins. They will also have the option to request Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (while supplies last) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid-themed classroom materials. Over the next few months, the program will initiate reward-based features to further motivate schools to recycle.
