When Greg's mother doesn't make a big deal about his birthday, he thinks it's because she is throwing him a surprise party under the guise of a pie making contest at church. Of course, when he shows up, it really IS a pie contest, and his mother has the lame excuse that the family calendar got taken away with a broken refrigerator, and she forgot. After sharing anecdotes about many, many birthday parties, Greg says that his mother is planning another one, and since he is currently obsessed with finding a Three Eyed Threeble collectible card to earn money, he asks for packs of those for gifts. He also plans to sell items at his party, like cups, and charging people to flush the toilet. He's invited a lot of people, and his mother has hired a bouncy house, so there are a ton of people, but they are all ignoring his fund raising efforts. When his mother has to redecorate the cake with expired mayonnaise and hired Heath Healthbody as entertainment, things go downhill. Collectible card thieves show up, as does the groom from a wedding down the street, creating further chaos. When a group of mothers who found out from social media that Greg's mother forgot his birthday show up with cake, it looks like things might improve, but the neighbor's overgrown yard gets mown and a deer that had been hiding there closes Greg's party down. The day is saved when Greg's Aunt Nancy, who was visiting from Hawaii and took over his room, leaves a note that has a Three Eyed Threeble card in it. Greg struggles with what to do with the card, and where to hide it, but even that supposedly good thing goes bust quickly. In the end, Greg runs into the father of a boy who heard Greg's party was so awesome that the father hires Greg to host his son't party, leading to a lucrative new business for Greg.
Strengths: It doesn't matter what the Wimpy Kid books are about; my readers have an insatiable desire for them. Since this is concerned with Greg's birthday, I think it will be especially popular, and the cake frosting cover is great. There's a tiny bit of a plot, and the story moves fairly quickly.
Weaknesses: Like the previous 19 books, there is little character development, and not enough of a plot to really mean much. Essentially, this is Greg's self-centered ramblings about his birthday. I found it hard to believe that his mother forgot his birthday, not matter how invested she was in the pie baking contest.
What I really think: I'll have to purchase a copy, and it will get read to pieces. I wonder how many more titles there will be.
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