Cabin Fever

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, written and illustrated by American cartoonist and author Jeff Kinney, is currently a 19-book middle grade series of diary-style graphic novels. Originally a cartoonist, Jeff Kinney created the Diary of a Wimpy Kid comics for an educational website in the late 1990s. Initially, Jeff intended to write comics for adults that would remind them of the challenges and misadventures of their middle school experiences, but to his surprise, Jeff was told that his comics would resonate with an actual middle grade audience. Jeff’s comics were receiving tens of thousands of views, which led him to consider publishing. 

In the mid-2000s, he published the first installment of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which was composed of several of his earlier comics strung together with added narration. Because of Jeff’s cartoonist background, the novels take on a loose style that relies primarily on humor and short anecdotes about Greg’s daily experiences. Jeff loosely bases the misadventures of the Heffley family on his own childhood experiences, and each new book in the series takes him about nine months to write. He was also inspired by renowned children’s author Judy Blume (Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret), who never shied away from incorporating family disasters into her stories.

Today, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has sold over 290 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 70 languages, making it one of the most successful children’s literature franchises of all time. Popular titles from the series include Roderick Rules (2008), Double Down (2016), and The Deep End (2020). The series is often praised for its use of humor and flawed characters, as well as its simplistic illustrations, which are reminiscent of newspaper cartoon strips. In 2009, Kinney was honored as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. His series has been adapted into live-action films, an animated Disney series, and a theatrical play. The series has spent a collective 812 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, remaining on the list since the first book was published in 2007. It has also won several Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Book and is a two-time winner of the Children’s Choice Book award. Recently, Jeff Kinney created a spin-off series called Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, which is told from the perspective of Greg’s best friend, Rowley.

Cabin Fever is the sixth installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. In the first five books, Greg finds himself facing a wide variety of challenging situations, and many of the same themes occur in this book, including issues of bullying, Learning From Mistakes, and Getting Along With Family and Friends. In previous titles, Greg focused on trying to become popular at school while avoiding bullies like his older brother, Rodrick. Greg’s dad made several failed attempts to toughen him up, and Greg started to explore the world of girls as he entered puberty. In follow-up titles to Cabin Fever, Greg’s family receives an inheritance and goes on a camping trip together, and Greg and Rowley’s friendship is repeatedly tested.