JEFF KINNEY LAUNCHES NEW BOOK: DIARY OF AN AWESOME FRIENDLY KID WITH WEEKLONG CELEBRATION OF REAL AWESOME, FRIENDLY PEOPLE
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid spinoff book arrives April 9, 2019
New York, NY (April 5, 2019)—Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Children’s Books, announced today Jeff Kinney’s “Awesome Friendly People Celebration,” a weeklong series of celebratory appearances timed to the publication of his new novel Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson’s Journal. The book is written from the perspective of Rowley Jefferson, the ever-cheerful best friend of Diary of a Wimpy Kid protagonist Greg Heffley. Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid will be published on April 9, 2019, in the United States and Canada in simultaneous hardcover, ebook, and audio editions, with a 3-million-copy announced first printing, and in over eighteen countries throughout the world starting this April.
In celebration of Rowley’s upbeat perspective and positive message, Kinney will ride an “Awesome Friendy Party Bus” across New York City and New Jersey to meet over 40 real awesome , friendly people during the first week of Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid’s publication. The individuals, ranging from third-graders to adults, embody awesome, friendly qualities and represent all five New York City boroughs and New Jersey. Celebrations include a book fair, surprise workplace visits, parties, surprise school appearances, and donations to supporting organizations.
“It’s been really fun and energizing identifying individuals who are making a difference in their communities and at their schools,” said Jeff Kinney. “We can’t wait to meet the awesome, friendly people along our journey and to help shine a light on their actions.”
The Awesome Friendly People Celebration participants include:
• Awesome Friendly Aspiring Students: 11 students from School #28/Paterson Academy for the Gifted & Talented who demonstate kindness and positivity, including three eighth-graders who get to school early each day to deliver breakfast to younger students.
• Awesome Friendly Aspiring Artist and Diversity Advocate: Ysolde Stienon is a 23-year-old aspiring artist with a voracious desire to learn and take new trips, despite her challenging neurological disorder. In and through these experiences, she aims to advocate for universal access in Brooklyn.
• Awesome Friendly Coach: Eric Moody grew up in Brooklyn’s Gowanus Houses and now coaches and funds youth basketball for kids aged 8 to 18 in the neighborhood, giving more than 50 kids from around the city the gift of presence, empowerment, and possibilities.
• Awesome Friendly Educator: Sherilla is a para-professional at the New American Academy Charter School who goes above and beyond to work with her students.
• Awesome Friendly Gym Manager: Daniel Cote is a local gym owner who proved he knows how to treat his clients after he was caught on camera presenting a new pair of shoes to a client with special needs.
• Awesome Friendly Kids: The young members of the Queens Library STACKS after-school program make cards and bookmarks for the library’s homebound patrons.
• Awesome Friendly Knitting Club: The Knitting Club of the Queens Library Bellerose branch, headed by Senior Librarian Qamar Jaffery, donated 30 hats of various sizes to patients at the Long Island Jewish Hospital.
• Awesome Friendly Librarian: Nili Ness is Queens Library’s first and only correctional services librarian.
• Awesome Friendly Note Dropper: When Cynthia Yip’s mother passed away last year, Cynthia turned to acts of kindness to cope with her grief. She now drops notes to strangers around New York City as a way of honoring her mother.
• Awesome Friendly Playground Friends: Two elementary school students from the New American Academy Charter School who stand up for others and always show HEARTS (Humility, Empowerment, Aspiration, Responsibility, Teamwork, and Scholarship) in their community.
• Awesome Friendly Reading Inspirer: Alvin Irby, the founder of Barbershop Books, a community-based program that creates child-friendly reading spaces in barbershops and provides early literacy training to barbers across America.
• Awesome Friendly Residents: 5 students from Parsippany High School who, when the weather forecast called for up to eight inches of snow, shoveled a neighbor’s driveway at 4:30 AM so she could make it to her dialysis treatment.
• Awesome Friendly Scholars: 10 students from Mosaic Preparatory Academy who exemplify leadership and positivity at school.
• Awesome Friendly Street Artist: Jason Naylor is a Brooklyn-based street artist who transforms walls by adding positive messages that infuse kindness and love into the community.
“More than a decade after the incredible ongoing success of Greg Heffley’s point of view, we’re thrilled to share Rowley Jefferson’s perspective with readers everywhere,” said Michael Jacobs, president and CEO of ABRAMS. “Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid will undoubtedly give millions of existing fans and new ones a fresh look at the world of Wimpy Kid through Rowley’s awesome, friendly eyes and its timely message of kindness and positivity.”
Kinney will also appear at four bookstores over the week of publication for in-store signings and photo opportunities. The hosting stores are Barnes & Noble in Carle Place, New York, on April 9; Books & Greetings in Northvale, New Jersey, on April 10; Greenlight Books in Brooklyn, New York, on April 11; and Kinney’s own bookstore, An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts, on April 12. For more information on the events visit wimpykid.com.
Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid will be followed by the publication of the fourteenth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series in fall 2019. Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are published in 73 editions in 61 languages. More than 200 million copies of the books in the series have been sold globally. Published in 2007, the first book was an instant bestseller and has remained on the New York Times bestseller list since its publication and through the release of the thirteenth book for more than 655 weeks total. The series is also a fixture on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and IndieBound bestseller lists.
About the Author
Jeff Kinney is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and a six-time Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award winner for Favorite Book for his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Jeff has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. He is also the creator of Poptropica, which was named one of Time’s 50 Best Websites. He spent his childhood in the Washington, D.C., area and moved to New England in 1995. Jeff lives with his wife and two sons in Plainville, Massachusetts, where they own a bookstore, An Unlikely Story. For more Wimpy Kid, visit wimpykid.com.
About ABRAMS
Founded in 1949, ABRAMS was the first company in the United States to specialize in publishing art and illustrated books. The company continues to publish critically acclaimed and bestselling works in the areas of art, photography, cooking, craft, comics, interior and garden design, entertainment, fashion, and popular culture; and children’s books ranging from middle grade to young adult fiction to picture books to board books. ABRAMS creates and distributes brilliantly designed books with the highest production values under the following imprints: Abrams; Abrams ComicArts; Abrams Image; Abrams Press; The Overlook Press; Abrams Books for Young Readers; Amulet Books; Abrams Appleseed; and a gift and stationery line, Abrams Noterie. ABRAMS also distributes books for 5 Continents Editions, Booth-Clibborn Editions, Cameron + Company, Alain Ducasse Édition, Getty Publications, Ludion, The Museum of Modern Art, Obvious State, SelfMadeHero, Tate Publishing, V&A Publishing, and The Vendome Press.
Abrams Children’s Books thanks the following organizations for their assistance and participation in the Awesome Friendly People Celebration:
• Queens Public Library is one of the largest and busiest public library systems in the United States, dedicated to serving the most ethnically and culturally diverse area in the country. An independent, non-profit organization founded in 1896, the Queens Public Library offers free access to a collection of more than 5 million books and other materials in multiple languages, technology, and digital resources, and more than 87,500 educational, cultural, and civic programs a year. It consists of 65 locations, including branch libraries, a Central Library, seven adult learning centers, a technology lab, two universal pre-kindergartens, and two teen centers.
• Community Heroes is a community-based public art project celebrating everyday heroes of our neighborhoods, organized by Trellis and United Photo Industries. Founded in 2016, Community Heroes partners with neighborhoods around New York City to nominate heroes and pairs local media makers to take their portraits. By publicly celebrating residents who have devoted work to strengthening and supporting their community, we hope to community build and encourage viewers to take ownership of their neighborhoods.
• Kindness.org’s mission is to educate and inspire people to choose kindness. They believe kindness can be learned and made into a habit. They approach this with a focus on behavior change and cultivating opportunities where people are armed with the knowledge and inspiration to choose kindness, believing that is what will truly lead to a kinder world. Kindness.org does this important work in a meaningful and measurable way.
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