DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOK #13: THE MELTDOWN WILL RELEASE ON OCTOBER 30 WITH A MAJOR MARKETING CAMPAIGN AND THE DEBUT OF “WIMPY KID LIVE: THE MELTDOWN SHOW”
Wimpy Kid-branded bus hits the road to bring interactive author experience to select cities across the US
New York, NY (September 25, 2018)—Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Children’s Books, will launch the much-anticipated Diary of a Wimpy Kid #13: The Meltdown on October 30, 2018, with an imaginative and kid-focused interactive author experience: “Wimpy Kid Live: The Meltdown Show.” Filled with trademark Wimpy Kid humor, trivia, cartooning, zany audience participation opportunities, and snowball fights, “Wimpy Kid Live: The Meltdown Show” will be performed in Boston, Massachusetts; Plainville, Massachusetts; Rhinebeck, New York; Madison, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Decatur, Georgia, in partnership with local independent bookstores. Beloved author, illustrator, and creator Jeff Kinney will host and perform “Wimpy Kid Live: The Meltdown Show,” which will travel down the East Coast on a Wimpy Kid-branded coach bus.
Dedicated to reaching fans across an array of venues, Jeff will appear at stores at three additional US cities over the course of his tour: Books-A-Million in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Costco in Pottstown, Pennsylvania; and Barnes & Noble in Charlotte, North Carolina. He will also visit children at five elementary schools throughout his tour.
Fans are eagerly awaiting The Meltdown, the thirteenth installment in the series, in which snow shuts down Greg Heffley’s middle school, and his neighborhood transforms into a wintry battlefield. Rival groups fight over territory, build massive snow forts, and stage epic snowball fights. And in the crosshairs are Greg and his trusty best friend, Rowley Jefferson. It’s a fight for survival as Greg and Rowley navigate alliances, betrayals, and warring gangs in a neighborhood meltdown. When the snow clears, will Greg and Rowley emerge as heroes? Or will they even survive to see another day?
In addition to the highly anticipated thirteenth book in the series, ABRAMS’ Wimpy Kid publishing program will also release a new box set containing the full series, including The Meltdown as well as The Wimpy Kid 2019 Wall Calendar.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are published in 70 editions in 59 languages. As part of his continuing mission to reach children across the world, Jeff will visit eight international countries this fall, meeting fans in Denmark, where he has not previously visited, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Canada.
“I’m incredibly excited to hit the road and tour this fall, visiting some of my favorite bookstores on the East Coast,” says Jeff Kinney. “We’re doing something really different and daring this year by creating an interactive stage experience. It’s a whole new way of connecting with fans, and I hope they enjoy the show!”
Michael Jacobs, President and CEO of ABRAMS, says, “Jeff has done it again, producing a book that will delight and inspire his millions of fans and a live stage show that is sure to enhance the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid experience. We’re thrilled to continue to help bring Jeff’s vision and the excitement of reading and creating readers to kids here and around the world.”
To celebrate the launch of The Meltdown, the ABRAMS marketing and publicity campaign is the most extensive and far-reaching to date. In addition to “Wimpy Kid Live: The Meltdown Show,” which will be performed in eight cities across the US, the promotional support includes national television spots; major national and social media advertising; retail promotions across every major channel of distribution in the marketplace; and the Wimpy Kid balloon at the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
More than 200 million copies of the books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid 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 twelfth book, for more than 640 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’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.
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