"Greg Heffley's on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or is Greg's life destined to be just another hard-luck story?"--

Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

While trying to find a new best friend after feuding with Rowley, middle-school slacker Greg Heffley is warned by older family members that adolescence is a time to act more responsibly and to think seriously about his future.

School property has been vandalized and Greg Heffley swears he is innocent--sort of. Just as the authorities are about to pin him down a freak blizzard hits, trapping the Heffleys in their home and leaving Greg to wonder whether being stuck with his family for the holidays really is better than facing the punishment he knows is coming when the snow is gone.

When Miss Know-It-All's inbox overflows with pleas for guidance, Nikki Maxwell, the school newspaper advice columnist, turns to her best friends for help.

Principal Krupp once again turns into the superhero Captain Underpants in order to save the world, and Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, from the evil talking toilets and the Turbo Toilet 2000.

"In this latest misadventure, Nate, the all-time record-holder for detentions, gets to see how the other half lives as he follows his best friend Francis's example and becomes a total neat freak; has Nate totally flipped out?"--

Nate has serious problems to deal with after his fight with Randy Bentancourt was reported in "Weekly Bugle," but he'd rather focus his attention on the cute new girl named Ruby. And with the annual Mud Bowl around the corner, Nate's team will be taking on the biggest opponents they've seen yet.

When her crush Brandon reveals that the animal shelter where he volunteers is in danger of being closed, Nikki and her friends enter an ice skating competition to help raise money, an effort that is compromised by an interfering Mackenzie.