<P> One day, as Greg is walking the kids by himself he chases the young children after scaring them with a stick with worms on it . A neighbour contacts the school and tells them about Greg's unusual behavior . The principal suspects Rowley, as Greg was wearing Rowley's jacket . Rowley is suspended from the safety patrol . Greg later decides to confess the truth, but Rowley has already informed on him, resulting in their friendship breaking off . </P> <P> Greg tries to befriend Fregley to make Rowley jealous, although he is uncomfortable around Fregley . Resorting to auditioning for the school play (based on The Wizard of Oz) Greg lands the role as a tree, while Patty Farrel is cast as Dorothy, the protagonist of the novel . During the show's opening performance, Rodrick brings a camera to film the play . Greg becomes too nervous to sing, confusing the other "trees" who also fail to sing . Patty gets frustrated and angers Greg, who throws props at Patty, and then everyone gets in the fight, ending the play in chaos . </P> <P> Feeling desolate from being blatantly rejected by everyone, Greg is surprised and a little happy to see Rowley approaching him at recess, until, he discovers that he's only there to demand back a CD he'd left with Greg . They get into an awkward fist - fight . While they are fighting, the teens who chased them at halloween are drawn to the chaos crowding around Greg and Rowley tumbling around in the dirt . When the leader of the teen gang scares away the rest of the students, they force Greg and Rowley to eat a moldy piece of cheese that has been left on the school grounds for years . Rowley is the first to eat the cheese - except when it comes to Greg's turn, he claims that he's lactose intolerant and that eating cheese will kill him . The principal turns up and the teens disappear . The other students see the cheese in front of Rowley and believe he has eaten from it . Greg takes the blame and claims he ate the cheese . Greg and Rowley mend their friendship . </P> <P> In 2005, FunBrain and Jeff Kinney released an online version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid . The website made daily entries until June 2005 . The book became an instant hit and the online version received about 20 million views as of 2007 . Many online readers requested a printed version . At the 2006 New York Comic - Con Kinney proposed Diary to Charles Kochman, Editorial Director of the ComicArts division of Abrams Books, who purchased the rights to the book . According to Kochman, the two initially conceived it as a book for adults, believing it would appeal to audiences similar to that of the TV series The Wonder Years . Kochman brought it before the Abrams publishing board, which convinced Kinney and Kochman that it would be better aimed toward children . In 2007, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, an abridged version of the original online book, was published . </P>

When does diary of a wimpy kid take place