Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day.

I'm Andrew Limbong.

Jeff Kinney is a star.

If that name doesn't ring any bells for you, go to the kids section of your local bookstore

or library and I bet ten bucks that you'd find more than a few of his books.

He's the author of the Diary of a Wimby Kid series, and he's out with the 20th book in the

series. It's titled Party Pooper. Kinney spoke with Here and Now's Robin Young about why he thinks

his books have such lasting power. That's ahead. This message comes from Wise, the app for using

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In tiny Plainville, Massachusetts, construction is underway on a beer garden, performance space, places to

gather, the brainchild of mega bestselling author Jeff Kinney and his wife, Julie, to give

back to the town where they've raised their kids and run their bookstore, an unlikely story.

The store already brings in people from across the country.

Soon we'll bring you more about the new plans, which are destined to make this even more of a destination.

But today, we hear about the little line drawing who made it all possible, the Sad Sack

Middle Schooler Greg Heffley, he of the concave chest and big dreams, star starting in 2007, of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

The series has sold over 300 million books in 49 languages.

Tomorrow, Jeff Kinney publishes the 20th party pooper.

...