Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not-So-Fabulous Life (Russell)

Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not-So-Fabulous Life
Rachel Renée Russell (2009)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was one of a bunch of books that I took from a little book library. I plan to return them all for another kid to enjoy. Some of the references might be dated, but the experiences are likely the same. Unfortunately, I have misplaced the bunch I have, other than the first book, somewhere in my house.

I started this sometime in 2024, and I remember I was reading it on the train, and then I put it on the side and forgot about it. Odds are that I had a book club book to read. I didn't mind reading this on the train even though it was a little difficult to balance on top of my backpack while I had a coffee in one hand.

Nikki Maxwell is the new girl in a new school. Her dad is an exterminator who has a van with a large insect on top of it, but her mom drives her to school ... usually. Her locker is right new to the popular and mean girl, Mackenizie Hollister, who believes she's the best at everything and thinks that she deserves everything.

Nikki goes to the office to sign up for the art contest but freaks out because MacKenzie is already there, so she says she's just there to sign up for the Library Club (because there's a sign-up sheet sitting there). In the library, she meets her new friends, Chloe and Zoey. The three of them sit an an unpopular table far from the popular girls. Still, she's noticed by school photographer Brandon Roberts, who seems to like her more than Nikki can possibly believe. "Obviously", he'd be more interested in girls like MacKenzie, who definitely wants to get Brandon's attention.

Antics ensue and are recorded on journal pages. The book is even lined like a journal would be, and "Nikki" doodles in it because she is an artist.

Nikki gains popularity because she can draw temporary tattoos on students in exchange for book donations but it starts to take over her life.

Other trials and tribulations of middle school occur.

I don't know if I would've read something like this in 7th grade -- not true, I definitely would not have, for 7th grade reasons of my own -- but it was a cute book to read now. And, yes, I will read YA if only because it's a market and it might be a market that I eventually have to try. If nothing else, I like seeing how other writers write tweens and early teens.

I don't know if I'll read all of the ones that I took from the library (assuming I find where I put them), but I reserved the ebook of the second one from the library, so I'll read two of them, at least.

The following is from a website for the book:


New school.
New mean girl.
New crush.
New diary so I can spill about all of it…

I put a lot of really personal stuff in this diary along with my sketches and doodles.

But, mostly it’s about how TRAUMATIC it was transferring to my new private middle school, Westchester Country Day.

And, how a lot of the CCP (Cool, Cute & Popular) kids were really SNOBBY and made my life TOTALLY miserable. People like, oh, I don’t know, maybe…

MACKENZIE HOLLISTER!!

And, it just so happened that I got stuck with a locker right next to hers. I could NOT believe I had such CRAPPY luck. I knew right then and there it was going to be a VERY, VERY long school year. ☹️


If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.

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