Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure Read online

  Hard Luck

  The Long Haul

  Old School

  Double Down

  The Getaway

  The Meltdown

  Wrecking Ball

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  ALSO BY ROWLEY JEFFERSON

  GREG HEFFLEY'S

  DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOKS

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid

  Rodrick Rules

  The Last Straw

  Dog Days

  The Ugly Truth

  Cabin Fever

  The Third Wheel

  Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid

  AMULET BOOKS

  New York

  by Jeff Kinney

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,

  and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used

  fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business

  establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained

  from the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4197-4909-4

  eISBN 978-1-64700-166-7

  Text and illustrations copyright © 2020, Wimpy Kid, Inc.

  ROWLEY JEFFERSON’S AWESOME FRIENDLY ADVENTURE™ and the

  design of the book’s cover are trademarks and trade dress of Wimpy Kid, Inc.

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Jeff Kinney and Marcie Lawrence

  Book design by Jeff Kinney

  Published in 2020 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights

  reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

  system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic,

  photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the

  publisher.

  Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity

  for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use.

  Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact

  [email protected] or the address below.

  Amulet Books

  ®

  is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

  ABRAMS The Art off Books

  195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007

  abramsbooks.com

  CHAPTER 1

  2

  Once upon a time in a land far away there

  lived a boy named Roland. And Roland

  was a very good boy.

  Back then school hadn’t been invented

  yet so most kids worked on their family

  farms all day.

  But Roland’s parents thought it was

  important for their son to get an

  education and to learn to play an

  instrument. So he spent his days inside,

  reading books and practicing the flute.

  Roland didn’t like practicing the flute

  very much but he never complained

  because he wanted to be a good son.

  3

  It was a dangerous time when ogres

  and giants roamed the land. So Roland’s

  parents liked him to stay indoors where

  it was safe, especially after dark.

  4

  Roland had never even been outside

  his village. He wished he could go on

  adventures like his grandpa Bampy the

  Brave who used to fight monsters and

  search for treasure.

  But Bampy was never the same after he

  got back from his adventures. And Roland

  knew that was because Bampy didn’t

  always wear his helmet and he got hit on

  the head a few too many times.

  5

  Roland promised his parents that if he

  went on an adventure he’d ALWAYS wear

  a helmet and he’d make good choices. But

  they said he’d be much safer staying at

  home and practicing his flute.

  So the only thing Roland could do was

  read stories about Bampy and imagine

  what it would be like to have adventures

  of his OWN.

  6

  Sometimes after Roland read about the

  monsters in Bampy’s stories he’d get kind

  of SCARED and then he’d have to sleep

  in his parents’ bed for a few nights. But

  his parents probably didn’t mind because

  they loved him very much.

  Most of the time Roland’s dad worked

  from home but once or twice a month

  he’d go on a business trip to another

  village. And Roland’s dad would always

  say the same thing when he left.

  7

  Right about now you’re probably thinking

  “So far this is a pretty boring book.” But

  just wait because in a second it’s about to

  get really GOOD.

  This one morning when Roland’s dad

  was on one of his trips something totally

  CRAZY happened. Roland woke up early

  to practice his flute but then it got really

  COLD in his room.

  And when he looked out the window he

  couldn’t believe it was SNOWING.

  8

  Oh yeah I probably should’ve mentioned

  that this was the middle of the summer

  because then you’d be even MORE amazed.

  Roland ran down to the kitchen to tell his

  mom about the snow but he couldn’t find

  her ANYWHERE.

  So Roland went outside to ask his

  neighbor Mrs. Nettles where his mom was

  because Mrs. Nettles was pretty nosy and

  she always knew everybody’s business.

  But that’s when Roland got some really

  bad news.

  9

  Mrs. Nettles said the White Warlock

  came to the village and KIDNAPPED

  Roland’s mom. And he took her to his Ice

  Fortress where he was keeping her as his

  PRISONER.

  Now Roland was TOTALLY FREAKED OUT.

  You’re probably thinking “Well why didn’t

  Roland just call his dad?”

  But guess what? Phones weren’t invented

  yet so he COULDN’T.

  10

  Plus if Roland mailed his dad a letter to

  tell him what happened it wouldn’t get

  to him for a long time because back then

  the mail took FOREVER.

  Roland was worried about his mom but he

  was ALSO worried what his dad was going

  to say when he got home from his trip.

  Roland decided the only thing he COULD

  do was travel to the Ice Fortress and

  rescue his mom on his OWN.

  11

  But Roland knew the journey was going

  to be dangerous so he went down to the

  basement and got Bampy’s old armor out

  of a musty chest.

  And even though Roland was a little

  nervous about monsters and sad about


  his mom getting kidnapped he was also

  EXCITED because he was about to go on

  his first ADVENTURE.

  ef

  12

  After I wrote the first chapter of

  my book I showed it to my mom who

  said she was proud of me for using my

  imagination. Then she said she couldn't

  wait to find out what happens NEXT.

  I haven't shown it to my dad yet because

  I wanna FINISH it first. And when I'm

  done I'm gonna ask him to read it to me

  as my bedtime story. But I'll pretend I

  don't know what's gonna happen so it'll

  still be SPECIAL.

  13

  I was pretty excited to show the book

  to my best friend Greg Heffley because

  he likes stories with dragons and wizards

  and that kind of stuff and I figured he'd

  think it was pretty awesome.

  But I couldn't really tell if he liked it or

  not because at first he didn't say much.

  I asked Greg what he thought of the

  story so far and he asked me if I wanted

  his honest opinion or if he should tell me

  what I WANTED to hear. And I said I

  wanted his honest opinion.

  14

  But Greg reminded me that the LAST

  time I asked for his honest opinion it got

  him in TROUBLE. That was the time

  I showed him my tap-dancing routine

  after taking my first lesson.

  Greg told me he thought it was terrible

  and that hurt my feelings. So I told his

  mom what he said and she wasn't happy.

  15

  Greg said if he told me his honest opinion

  about my book and it hurt my feelings I

  wasn't allowed to go running to his mom.

  So I said OK and we did a pinky swear.

  After that was settled Greg told me

  all the things that were wrong with my

  story. And boy he had a LOT to say.

  The first thing he said is that I can't

  start the book with "Once upon a time"

  because that's corny and it makes it

  sound like a fairy tale. And that kind of

  hurt my feelings right away because it's

  SUPPOSED to be a fairy tale.

  Then Greg said no offense but this

  Roland character has got a lot of

  problems and the biggest one is his HAIR.

  16

  He said Roland has a mullet which is the

  worst type of haircut a person can have.

  I said the reason Roland's hair is long in

  the back is so he'll look cool when he does

  action stuff.

  And Greg said maybe Roland can get a

  haircut at the beginning of Chapter Two.

  17

  Then Greg said no offense but Roland

  kind of seems like a BABY and it's not

  really believable that a kid his age would

  sleep in his parents' bed.

  And that made me feel a little ashamed

  because sometimes I sleep in my parents'

  bed, especially on nights when there's a

  really bad thunderstorm.

  Greg taught me a long time ago that

  if you say "no offense" then the other

  person isn't allowed to have hurt feelings

  about what you say AFTER it.

  18

  But I think that only works with kids

  because one time I tried it on my dad

  and he got mad.

  Greg said the book was gonna be too

  boring if it was only about Roland and

  that he needed a SIDEKICK. I said maybe

  Roland could have a best friend who goes

  WITH him and his name could be Greg

  Heffley.

  But he told me everything about his life

  is "copyright Greg Heffley" and if I used

  his name I'd have to pay him MONEY. So

  I decided to make up a different sidekick

  for Roland because I don't want any

  trouble with Greg.

  19

  Greg said he didn't know if he could read

  a book about a boy who has to rescue

  his mom because that's a little too

  WEIRD. So I said maybe I could switch

  out Roland's mom for a PRINCESS and

  Roland could rescue her INSTEAD.

  But Greg said nowadays princesses are

  tough and know how to fight so they

  don't NEED some guy to rescue them.

  20

  He said if I wrote a book about a helpless

  princess who needs to be saved by some

  dude then I'm gonna get a ton of angry

  letters.

  Well that got me kind of worried because

  I don't WANNA get a bunch of angry

  letters. But Greg said I could put my

  publisher's address on the back of the

  book and then all the angry letters would

  go to THEM.

  I said I was just writing the book for

  MYSELF and that I wasn't really

  TRYING to get it published. But Greg

  said if I was gonna do all this work I

  might as well try to cash in.

  21

  He said that if my book gets published

  I'll have to think about movies and toys

  and T-shirts and swimwear and all sorts

  of OTHER stuff too. And that sounded

  complicated.

  Then Greg said he'd make me a DEAL. He

  said I could focus on the writing and he'd

  handle everything ELSE. Then we'd split

  all the profits fifty-fifty.

  I was excited because that meant me

  and Greg were gonna be PARTNERS. So

  we did another pinky swear to make it

  OFFICIAL.

  CHAPTER 2

  23

  Even though Roland felt pretty brave