Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde

Front cover
Author	Jeff Kinney
Illustrator	Jeff Kinney
Series	Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Genre	Children's literature Graphic novel
Published	October 25, 2022
Publisher	Amulet Books (US) Puffin Books (UK)
Publication place	United States
Pages	224
ISBN	9781419762949
Preceded by	Big Shot
Followed by	No Brainer
Website

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde is the seventeenth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. It was released on October 25, 2022. The story follows Greg Heffley as he reluctantly joins his brother Rodrick’s heavy metal band, Löded Diper.

Plot

Greg expresses his thoughts on fame, noting that it might attract unwanted attention, so he decides to be best friends with a possible one. After failed attempts to make his best friend Rowley famous, Greg decides to use his brother Rodrick's desire for his band, Löded Diper, to be famous as an opportunity instead, using a familial connection. Rodrick believes that the annual Battle of the Bands might boost their fame, inspired by his favorite band Metallichihuahua (based on Metallica), who won the competition when they were starting out, but broke up before he got a chance to see them play.

Rodrick attempts to have Löded Diper wear costumes that might establish them as rockstars, but that fails. After several photoshoots that are of no use, the band joins a contest at a local car dealership, where the person who can keep at least one hand on a van the longest gets to keep it as their previous van was rear-ended. The band loses the competition, and they decide to use social media to promote themselves. After getting injured from recording videos of accidents that go viral, Löded Diper brainstorm ideas for a music video, before realizing they need to record a song first to be able to create one.

Greg follows the band to a recording studio downtown, where they are able to finally record a song after several incidents and conflicts. The band then promotes their songs to local radio stations and people they know to no avail, before getting a breakthrough when bassist Drew's brother plays their song at the grocery store he works at; Drew's brother is fired from the grocery store as a result since the manager didn’t like heavy metal music, which is the type of music Löded Diper plays. Rodrick gets an ice cream truck from the junkyard, and Löded Diper blasts their music on the streets.

Rodrick decides to have the band perform on the rooftop of a building in the middle of the city, which Metallichihuahua had done once. Before they are able to start performing, the band flees down the building's stairs after panicking when grabbing the attention of a woman that lives at the apartment below the roof. They have a run-in with a cop, who fines them for parking in a loading zone. After some more marketing ideas, the band places stickers of their logo around town, catching the attention of the owner of a club named the Headless Chicken, who invites them to play at the club.

After preparing props, Löded Diper hires Greg as a roadie. On the performance's night, Greg and band vocalist Bill sneak into a nearby pizza place to steal an animatronic's drumstick for Rodrick. The show ends up catastrophically, and the owner reveals that the band isn't getting paid for the performance in the first place. Later on, they visit a convention to meet Metallichihuahua guitarist Warwick Sprinter, who gives them advice and explains that his band broke up because of desperate attempts to recover money stolen by their manager.

Löded Diper performs at a bar mitzvah successfully before being hired for some more shows and Rodrick considers growing the group's fan base. They head to a festival and sell merch, where they perform to a small audience, which includes Greg and Rodrick's family. The band later visits Metallichihuahua drummer Sebastian Sleeves, who tells them to quit the music business due to the very little chance of getting famous. They later find out about a more successful competing band named Stank, inspiring Rodrick to be more strict on Löded Diper's preparations.

Bill falls in love with a restaurant assistant manager named Becky, who brings the group donuts during practice. After Rodrick forces Bill to break up with her, to Bill's dismay, the group receives a cease and desist letter from a trading card company, which owns a card named Loaded Diaper. Not wanting to risk going into an expensive legal fight, the other members leave the band, and Bill ends up joining Stank. Greg, Drew's brother, and Rodrick's friend Ward replace them and have difficulties practicing.

On the day of the competition, Rodrick plugs his music player into a speaker and Löded Diper mimics their performance, but fail when they realize Rodrick has played the wrong audio, as it was too late to switch to the right audio. Suddenly, Sebastian, Warwick, and their former bandmates Stewart and Wayne get up on stage and start arguing. Metallichihuahua ends up performing and winning the competition before reuniting, while Bill rejoins Löded Diper.

Reception

Common Sense Media gave the book 4 out of 5 stars.

Sequel

Main article: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer

A sequel, titled Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer, was released in October 2023.