Young boy’s birthday gone ‘horribly wrong’ ends with star-studded surprise

A US boy’s birthday party that went “horribly wrong” has ended with a very special call from a famous author.

Mahlon Layne, 9, had been home-schooled until early this year, and decided to throw a birthday party with his new school friends last week, Oregon Live reported.

His mother Kristen organised a party based on Mahlon’s favourite book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

However, things turned sour on the day of the party, when no guests turned up.

“What was supposed to be a fun-filled party weekend, complete with pizza, cakes, games… went horribly wrong,” Mrs Layne told Oregon Live.

“I had asked parents to RSVP on the invitation, but hadn't received a single reply.”

“Devastated”, she wrote about the no-shows on her blog, Life on Peanut Layne.

Her story then went viral on social media, garnering hundreds of comments and reactions on Facebook.

Many strangers sent Mahlon birthday wishes, cards and gifts.

One unnamed social media user went the extra mile, and lined up a special phone call from Diary of a Wimpy Kid author, Jeff Kinney.

Mr Kinney called Mahlon and used FaceTime to give the birthday boy a “tour” of his office and studio.

“Not only did Jeff take time out of his super busy day to talk to him, but he FaceTimed him as well and gave us a personal tour,” Mrs Layne wrote.

The grateful mother said the gift was a “dream come true”.