Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

This article is about the book. For the film, see Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

Author	Jeff Kinney
Illustrator	Jeff Kinney
Cover artist	Jeff Kinney
Language	English
Series	Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Genre	Comedy/Survival
Publisher	Amulet Books (US) Puffin Books (UK)
Publication date	November 15, 2011 January 31, 2013 (paperback)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover), (paperback)
Pages	224 (217 story pages)
ISBN	978-1-4197-0296-9
Preceded by	The Ugly Truth
Followed by	The Third Wheel

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever is a 2011 bestselling and award-winning children's book and the sixth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, written by American author Jeff Kinney. The book was released on November 15, 2011, the paperback edition was released on January 31, 2013, and was the fastest-selling book of 2011, giving him the third-strongest opening-week sales for a children's author. Cabin Fever had a first printing run of six million copies, which Amulet Books stated was one of their most significant titles for that year. In 2012 Kinney won a "Best Author" Children's Choice Award from the Children's Book Council for Cabin Fever. The book received widespread acclaim from critics and is frequently said to be one of the best books in the series. The book was followed by 2012's The Third Wheel.

Plot

Greg has problems with the arrival of Christmas and the concept of Santa Claus's surveillance of good or bad children, and he wonders how this could be. His mother stumbles upon a doll known as "Santa's Scout" and uses it to prompt her children into good behavior. However, Greg's paranoia regarding the doll is taken advantage of by Rodrick, who uses it to prank his brother.

Meanwhile, Greg is preoccupied with a gaming website known as "Net Kritterz" and tending to the needs of his virtual pet and the website's required paid features. So he and Rowley devise various money-making ideas, which all backfire or fail. They soon decide to publish their tabloid newspaper, the Neighborhood Tattler, but find difficulties in selling and advertising it, and Greg fears that Rowley's additions to the newspaper will only damage their chances of selling copies.

Temporarily, they abandon their project to start their holiday bazaar after Greg buys "Drummies" (which are just pieces of fried chicken) at his local supermarket that are cheaper than the ones sold at his school's holiday bazaar and decide to hang up posters advertising the bazaar on the walls of the school on brick walls, and the boys' antics are witnessed and published in the community newspaper, as their attempts at advertisement have inadvertently vandalized the school. Fears of being discovered fill Greg with paranoia, worrying that he will be shipped off to a juvenile detention center, and he dreads the day when his identity will be unveiled.

Eventually, Rowley snaps and informs the school via an anonymous tip (reading "Me and Greg Heffley vandalized the school") that they were the ones who accidentally vandalized the school, but he doesn't admit his involvement. Greg confesses to his responsibility for the accidental vandalism, and vice-principal Roy gives him a choice: Greg could name the "Me" person, and they would both take the punishment together, or Greg could take the punishment himself. Greg decides to take it himself. As punishment, Greg is forced to stay after school and scrub the paint off the walls with bleach.

When he gets home, however, he finds a note from the police on the front door of the Heffley house, and he assumes that vice-principal Roy sold him out to the police. A sudden blizzard isolates the Heffleys within their home, resulting in a power outage that spoils their food and causes a basement flood.

Frank, Greg's father, in the meantime, is stranded at a hotel near his workplace, and the family lives in hunger and boredom for the following few days until Rowley comes over and reveals to Greg that his house still has electricity along with the rest of the town except for apparently Greg's household. A quizzical Greg checks the family's electricity box, only to find that the power has been shut off in all rooms of the house, excluding Manny's bedroom, and soon discovers that Manny has been living luxuriously in his bedroom surrounded by food, warmth, and toys without notifying his family because nobody taught him how to tie his shoes. The electricity is returned to the house, and Frank returns with food for the rest of his family.

The following day is Christmas, and Greg discovers himself on the cover of the newspaper for anonymously shoveling the walkway leading up to the Church (however, only to recover a tag he'd hung up on the giving tree requesting money) that allows a soup kitchen to be opened. He chooses to exploit himself on the front cover of his own tabloid newspaper in order to receive gifts that people may send to him.

Reception

The book received critical acclaim, with the book being nominated for a 2012 Harvey Award for a "Special Award for Humor in Comics". Publishers Weekly and Entertainment Weekly both praised the entry, with Publishers Weekly writing that although the snow storm doesn't occur until later in the read, "it’s unlikely that anyone will mind".

Adaptations

Main article: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever

In December 2012, Jeff Kinney announced that he was working on an animated adaptation of Cabin Fever to air around Christmas 2013. In August 2013, Kinney stated it would be a half-hour television special, and would air on Fox in late 2014.

On September 8, 2023, Disney announced they would be releasing a film adaptation of Cabin Fever for Disney+ on December 8, 2023 called Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever.