Diary of a Wimpy Kid - The Long Haul — Chapter 3

About This Passage

This passage rewards careful reading. Notice the rhythm of the first two sentences: a list of things they did not bring, then a flip to a list of one thing they did bring, then the surprise that nobody expected the trip to be about a pig at all. The phrase 'both the part nobody wanted to talk about and the part nobody could stop talking about' is the truest sentence in the chapter — it is exactly how families remember trips. The closing detail is small but important. Dad almost smiles. Almost. Kinney could have written 'Dad smiled,' but the word 'almost' is doing real work — it tells you the trip cost Dad something he is still recovering from, AND it tells you that even Dad, the most worn down of the family, has been moved by the same thing Mom is finally allowed to be right about.

Narration Prompt

In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?

Discussion Questions

1. At the end of the chapter, Mom says this was what she had meant 'the whole time' about making memories — and even Dad almost smiles. Has Mom been RIGHT about the trip the whole time, or has she just been saying she was right and the family is finally too tired to argue? What in the chapter makes you think one or the other?
2. The family did not win anything at the fair. They lost the contest. But the chapter does not feel like a loss — it feels like an arrival at something. Is losing something one was hoping for the same as failing? Or are losing and failing two different things? Use the chapter to help you think about this.

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide