Public Radio East serves Eastern North Carolina by providing news, fine arts, and informational programming that challenges, stimulates, educates, and entertains an intellectually curious audience.

© 2026 Public Radio East

Public Radio East
800 College Court
New Bern, NC 28562

EIN 56-1802728
Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 89.9 W210CF Greenville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Join our team! Public Radio East is hiring a Financial & Development Associate.

'Wimpy Kid' Keeps Kids of All Ages in Stitches

In Greg Heffley's pre-teen diary, even the most mundane details — often told in his deadpan voice — can be uproarious.

Heffley is the main character in the wildly successful book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by author and illustrator Jeff Kinney. The books, written like pencil-to-paper diary entries by Heffley, consistently top the New York Times bestseller lists. The newest installment, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, debuted this week at No. 1.

The book's chapters look like copies of Heffley's diary, in which he has written stories about his life, and drawn stick figures to represent the people who make up his day-to-day existence. Kinney, who originally started the series as a Web comic, uses an adult's perspective to hilariously remind readers about life in junior high. From dealing with girls, to popularity and bullying, Kinney keeps readers in stitches.

Andrea Seabrook spoke with Kinney about his scrawny protagonist making the life-changing transition from elementary to middle school.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.