Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess is the 19th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. The sequel to No Brainer, the book was unveiled on January 26, 2024 and was released on October 22, 2024.
Greg talks about how his grandmother became the lead of the Heffley family by cooking meatballs that everyone likes. Gramma requests that the Heffley family goes on a trip to Ruttyneck Island and take a photo in front of a lighthouse as a present for her 75th birthday.
After a ferry ride over, the Heffley family arrives at the beach house, only to find out that Aunt Gretchen and her kids are already there. Greg then talks about Aunt Veronica’s famous dog, Dazzle. The dog became famous after Veronica decided to film clips of Dazzle and post them on social media, but they weren't ready to deal with all the pressures of fame yet, resulting in disaster.
The next day, the family goes to the beach. Greg does not want to go into the water because he is worried there are sharks and the lifeguards aren’t paying attention, so he decides to relax on the sand. Later, Greg tries to fly a kite, but he crashes into a sandcastle, so he ties it to the cooler and starts to relax again. When Greg wakes up, the beach stuff floats out to sea, and Greg thinks he got stung by a jellyfish, when it is really a clump on seaweed. Greg decides to have some sandwiches from the cooler, but the kite takes it off the ground. The cooler lands in some sand dunes that are in a plover nesting area.
Back at the beach house, Greg takes a long time to use the bathroom. The following evening, the family has spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. The meatballs are in separate bags for each person. Later, Uncle Gary comes to the house because he wanted to perform as pirate Wild William, but they did not want him there because it was being rebranded as a butterfly sanctuary.
The family goes to the lighthouse, but there are a lot of people going down the stairs. When the tour is over, Greg does not want to leave. The following evening, the family has leftovers, except Dazzle, who refuses to have them. After dinner, they play some games. One of them is called Boardwalk Baron, which Greg’s father used to play with his family. There are not many playing tokens, so some people use random items. They come up with their own punishments, including turning the portable crib into a jail. Manny wins, and Greg’s father loses. The loud noises disturb Greg’s mother, who was reading a book in her room the whole time. She dumps the game in the trash and says that their game is officially over.
The next morning, Greg goes out on the boardwalk. He wants to become a social media star like Dazzle, so he makes a channel called “One Lick Ice Cream Reviews”. He goes to several ice cream places, but they won’t let Greg have a free sample. Greg finally finds a place, but when he posts his video, the channel has no followers. So he finds a picture on his mother’s camera roll, crops it, and swaps it in as his new profile photo.
The next day, the family wants to buy white clothes for the picture. Dinner is at the same time, and the grown-ups go shopping while the kids make dinner. They make a big mess, and the family goes out for dinner instead. They go to a restaurant called Palazzo Pomodoro, but when they get there, the hostess says that she couldn’t find their names in the system. Later, the hostess talks to the manager about a family who was late, and Greg’s family pretends to be that family.
When the food comes, Aunt Veronica takes a bite into a meatball, and she realizes that it was one of Greg’s grandmother’s meatballs. This leads to Veronica, Susan, Audra and Gretchen accusing one another of stealing the recipe and selling it to Palazzo Pomodoro. Later, the family who was late arrives, and they help themselves to Greg’s family’s food. The manager calls the cops, and Greg’s family takes their picture at the police station.
The next morning, Greg sees many people outside the house, and he sees that Dazzle was on his new profile photo. The family leaves the island. Greg’s mother thinks that they would surprise their grandmother because it was her birthday. When they arrive, the security guard says that he wouldn’t let them in until he called their grandmother, but she doesn’t pick up, so Greg’s family sneaks in. Their grandmother is already having her party in the recreation center. She says she is sorry for not inviting them, and they clean up the recreation center.
When Greg takes out the trash, he sees a package of frozen meatballs from Palazzo Pomodoro, and he shows his grandmother the bag. Greg thinks about telling his family the truth, but ultimately decides to keep his secret so he can become the next head of the family, so he promises his grandmother her secret is safe with him.
The book has gotten mostly positive feedback. Common Sense Media rated the book 3 out 5 stars, while Kirkus Reviews remarked that the book was "An entertaining take on family values, Wimpy Kid style."