Author Jeff Kinney Launches Fight or Flight Tour

Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, begins a book tour for his 21st novel, Fight or Flight, on October 26. The launch event takes place at Rainy Day Books in Johnson County. Kinney plans to avoid standard book talk during the evening. Instead, he intends to engage in physical confrontations with audience members.

The new book follows Greg Heffley, who studies bullies as if they were animals. He maps their territories and observes their hunting patterns to avoid them. Despite his research, Greg remains a target for the school’s largest bully. He must decide whether to fight or flee based on his findings. The story continues the long-running series that began with online diaries in 2004. The first printed volume appeared in 2007. Feature-length films began in 2010.

The tour event includes several unusual participants. Kinney will be joined by the Wicked Witch of the West and Bigfoot Jr. Other characters will appear as the night progresses. The program includes sumo wrestling and sparring neighbors. A tank of boiling nacho cheese is also part of the setup. Audience members will have the opportunity to join Kinney on stage.

Kinney described the event as a night of tomfoolery. He stated that he values in-person interaction with his readers. “I don’t get a chance to interact with my readers that often,” Kinney said. “This is my chance to see how they’re reacting to the book and hopefully see their excitement. That’s what motivates me to keep writing.”

The Heffley family has been the subject of the series for nearly two decades. Greg has experienced a variety of school and home mishaps over the 21 books. These include renovation failures and school district changes. Kinney believes there are still unexplored topics in childhood. “I think childhood is a big universe and there’s always something undiscovered,” he said. “There’s always an unexplored topic. There’s a lot of fertile ground.”

Kinney noted that his own children are grown. He has not been around elementary or middle school students in a long time. He feels that the humor from the early books still resonates with current readers. He also mentioned looking forward to visiting a local bar. He initially named Wichita’s Club Rodeo before correcting himself to the PBR.