Greg Heffley, a middle school student, begins writing in a journal at his mother’s insistence. Greg complains that he is “stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons” (2) and that the rules of popularity have changed since elementary. Greg is very concerned about his social status, unlike his best friend Rowley Jefferson. Greg tries to explain the importance of popularity to Rowley, but “I think it just goes in one ear and out the other with him” (8). Greg remembers how last year, someone touched a moldy piece of cheese on the school basketball court, and “the Cheese Touch” (9) swept through the school. He explains that “If you get the Cheese Touch, you’re stuck with it until you pass it on to someone else” (9).

Greg explains that he became friends with Rowley because Rowley’s mother bought him a book with ways to meet friends, and Rowley came over and told him a knock knock joke. Greg says he felt sorry for Rowley, so he decided to be his friend.

Greg lives with his mother, his father, and his two brothers, Rodrick and Manny. Rodrick is older and enjoys pranking Greg while Manny “never gets in trouble, even if he really deserves it” (21).