The Getaway was published by Amulet Books in 2017. After a series of holiday disasters, the Heffley family escapes to Isla de Corales, a tropical resort — where everything that can go wrong does: sunburns, food poisoning, aggressive birds, a terrifying parasailing incident, and the realization that “all-inclusive” mostly means you can’t escape.
The novel satirizes the modern family vacation: the gap between the brochure (paradise) and the reality (sunburn, boredom, and family arguments in a slightly different setting).
Collecting The Getaway
First edition (Amulet Books, New York, 2017): Hardcover with illustrated boards.
Market values:
- First edition, first printing: $15–$25
- Later printings: $5–$10
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation.
The Vacation Horror
Family vacations are fertile ground for comedy because they combine high expectations with enforced proximity and unfamiliar environments. Kinney exploits every element: the airport chaos, the flight-from-hell, the resort that looks nothing like the website, the other tourists, the wildlife, the local cuisine. Greg’s narration — simultaneously outraged and self-pitying — is perfectly calibrated for the material.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Isla de Corales a real place? No. The island is fictional, though it combines elements of various Caribbean and Central American resort destinations. The resort-specific disasters Kinney describes — aggressive iguanas, undisclosed construction, misleading advertising — are composites drawn from common vacation complaints.