Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (Dork Diaries, #1) by Rachel Renée Russell

Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (Dork Diaries, #1) Reviews

• 
  Shannon

  This is about an incredibly materialistic, shallow, melodramatic preteen who is whiny and annoying. This is not something I'd tell anyone in this book's targeted age range to read. I thought I was getting
  Diary of a Wimpy Kid for girls but it's basically a whinefest with no substance. And the way the kids talk is nowhere near natural. Everything is over-the-top drama and none of it is funny. Plus the whole thing is supposed to be a diary written by the girl but everything plays out in real time. Like she'll talk about writing in her diary in the janitor's closet and then her friends come in and they leave but she's still telling the story like she wasn't just writing everything down. It's weird and hard to explain, but you can't have something going on in the present when it's all supposed to be a diary written by the character.
  
  Even though the
  Diary of a Wimpy Kid books decline a bit as they go, I'd recommend those instead. They're funnier and better written though share some of the same characteristics (both good and bad) with this series. It's really a shame this turned out to be so awful because I liked the premise and I do like girly stuff and drawing but this was pretty much just a big failure.
• 
  ⊱Sonja•●❤️

  Nikki Maxwell ist ein 14-jähriges Mädchen, das mitten in der Pubertät steckt. Als sie mit ihren Eltern in eine für sie neue Stadt ziehen muss, da der Vater dort einen guten Job bekommen hat, wünscht sie sich nichts sehnlicher als ein neues Handy. Mit einem brandaktuellen neuen Handy wird sie – so glaubt sie – sofort neue Freundinnen finden und von den neuen Mitschülern akzeptiert werden. Tatsächlich bekommt sie auch von ihrer Mutter zum Umzug ein Geschenk überreicht, aber es ist zu ihrer großen Enttäuschung kein Handy – es ist ein Tagebuch! Anfangs ist Nikki fast entsetzt; wer schreibt denn heutzutage noch in ein Tagebuch!? Aber dann fängt sie doch an, ihre Gedanken und Erlebnisse aufzuschreiben und mit Zeichnungen zu versehen…
  
  Dieses Buch, das sich wohl hauptsächlich an Mädchen richtet, liest sich sehr leicht und schnell. Es ist in Comicform geschrieben, d.h. die einzelnen Seiten sehen aus wie Seiten eines linierten Heftes, das in Schreibschrift beschrieben und mit lustigen Zeichnungen aufgepeppt wurde.
  Die Zeichnungen gefallen mir ganz besonders, denn sie sind zwar einfach gehalten, dabei aber doch recht genau und einfach lustig. Sie machen gute Laune.
  Eigentlich macht das ganze Buch gute Laune, denn es macht Spaß, Nikkis nicht ganz so fabelhafte Welt mit ihr gemeinsam zu erleben. Dabei darf man das Geschriebene wohl nicht allzu ernst nehmen, denn die Probleme von Nikki sind nicht immer ganz nachvollziehbar. Sie erscheinen oft oberflächlich und übertrieben. Als ich 14 Jahre alt war, hatte ich jedenfalls ganz andere Sorgen und Probleme als Nikki, und so kann ich mich in sie nicht unbedingt hineinversetzen. Aber trotzdem: mir hat dieses Buch sehr gefallen, und ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass die Mädchen der Altersgruppe, für die dieses Buch geschrieben wurde, auch ihre Freude daran haben werden.
• 
  Betty

  You will love Nikki Maxwell! Cute, cool & captivating!
  
  The heroine of this YA story is eighth-grader Nikki Maxwell, a cute, cool and captivating girl you will fall in love with. Although the word cute is not a cool vocabulary choice for today's kids, I use it here because I love that word; it means much more than cool. To me it encompasses looks, personality and sincerity, while cool is...well "cool"...it can be a pose with some kids. So our NIkki is not only cool to her friends, she's also cute to us parents: the kind of girl every decent kid wants for a friend, every parent wants for a daughter. And I predict she will captivate everyone who reads this book, young and old alike.
  
  But Nikki thinks of herself as a dork because rich, snooty MacKenzie Hollister and her wannabe followers go out of their way to make her appear that way. After one too many "klutzy" accidents––caused by the despicable MacKenzie, of course––Nikki starts writing the "Dork Diaries."
  
  And what fun diaries they are! This honest, precocious girl writes EVERYTHING in those pages, illustrating her tales with humorous drawings. These drawings by the author enhance this book, making it an unforgettable reading pleasure.
  
  I admire the way Nikki handles all the set-backs in her life; she never loses her temper, attacking MacKenzie as many girls would. Instead she remains calm and works things out in her own way. That girl has more self-confidence than she knows.
  
  While Nikki doesn't follow the dictates of the "Fashionista Police," she dresses cute and flattering. Enough so to attract the attention of Brandon, a school photographer that MacKenzie has set her cap for.
  
  So what does MacKenzie do when Brandon repeatedly helps Nikki? And what do tattoos have to do with Nikki suddenly becoming so popular that even MacKenzie pretends to be her friend? Does Nikki fall for it? Do her best friends, Zoey and Chloe desert her for MacKenzie? And what does Nikki do when MacKenzie finally learns that her father is the local bug exterminator, driving around with a huge roach atop his truck? How embarrassing is that to our heroine?
  
  And does she ever get the coveted iPhone that she thinks she needs to be cool?
  
  The final showdown between Nikki and MacKenzie is a big school project. Nikki has much more talent (skills, as they call it), but will MacKenzie win through trickery? But to learn more about our Nikki, you will have to read for yourself, and follow along with the illustrations.
  
  Even though author Rachel Renee Russell's writing flows easily, I had a hard time reading this book––through no fault of hers. Each time I put it down, my granddaughter grabbed it and when I wanted to read a chapter, I had to search for it. I told that girl I would pass it on to her. Can't she wait? (But she's a lot like NIkki, so I can see the appeal.)
  
  A side note about this author: As I was reading this story, it was obvious the writer knew and understood the teens' mind, so I felt as though I were actually reading a diary written by a teen. I was surprised to learn that Russell is an attorney who "prefers writing children's books to legal briefs." After reading "Dork Diaries" I can see why. I look forward to many more books by her.
  
  This review is from an ARC sent to me by the author.
  
  Reviewed by Betty Dravis, May, 2009
  Author of "The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley"
  
  COMING IN MAY: "DREAM REACHERS," a compilation of inspiring celebrity interviews including Clint Eastwood, Jane Russell, Ted Kennedy, Shawn Richardz, Dozie, Darcy Donavan, Jenny McShane, Kiara Hunter, Jennifer Wilkinson, Barbara Evans, Jason Seitz... and more. INSPIRING! INTERESTING!
• 
  John Winston

  I’m going hard on this one. I’m a huge proponent of quality children’s literature, and this one just doesn’t do it. I know that most children like these stories and the consensus is, as long as they’re reading something, that’s a good thing, right? Wrong! There is enough quality contemporary literature out here that children shouldn’t have to settle for this. C. S. Lewis said, “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” Those words are profound, and I think the reason for the success of series like Harry Potter. They perform on many levels. Unfortunately, this one, does not.
  
  I’ve been teaching middle school for 16 years and the language in Rachel Renee Russell’s novel is in no way authentic. Check this, “The SNOBBY CHIC phenomenon is quite a mind-boggling thing. Hopefully, Congress will allocate funding for scientists to study it.” Not the language of a middle-schooler, but maybe of an attorney, which the author happens to be. And then the inappropriateness of this line on the 4th page. “While hordes of celebrity party girls regularly FORGET to wear undies, not a single one would be caught dead without her cell phone.” OK, some middle-schoolers may talk this way, but some middle-schoolers do and/or sell drugs, have sex, and commit heinous crimes. Should we also include that subject matter in the literature for our 5th-8th graders.
  
  Writing-wise, oftentimes Dork Diaries feels more like high school than middle school. Jock football players sitting at a lunch table. Two girls plan to get tattoos. All the talk of dating. Again, I know hormones begin to rage in middle school, but to put it in the literature. I’m just not seeing it. For two-thirds of the book it seems like Russell struggles to make the story interesting as the 14-year-old protagonist, Nikki Maxwell rambles on about nothing most of the time. One minute she’s shallow, the next she’s deep and introspective, a major flaw in character development. Speaking of character development, there was virtually none, especially with the supporting characters, and Nikki just wasn’t a likable character. Isn’t that important for the main character in a story?
  
  Toward the end, Russell makes a run at pulling everything together, but in the end, everything falls apart once more as there is no internal change or growth in Nikki, but a change in her situation, and all is conveniently well with the world again. What happened to the flawed protagonist our kids can learn from that decides it’s better to do the right thing than be popular, the hero that takes one for the team, the heroine that finds something within to succeed against overwhelming odds. We have to do better than this with our kids as far as literature is concerned. I know I’m in the minority on this, and that’s alright. But parents, you need to read this one first.
  
• 
  Isabella

  Dork Diaries is a great book. I recommend it to all girls who like excitement and longer books. Once you have read the first book you will want to read all the others
• 
  Terryann

  Gr 5-7 – The Dork Diaries details the life of 14 year old Nikki J. Maxwell over a period of 6 weeks. Nikki has been awarded a scholarship to the prestigious, private middle school, Westchester Country Day as a part of her father’s bug extermination contract with said school. Nikki’s angst as she deals with the school’s resident mean girl, her embarrassing parents, her crush on the hot boy and making new friends are all recorded alongside numerous sketches of her life. Although occasionally amusing, Nikki is not a very likeable character. She is shallow, self-centered and fails to show any growth in the book, even as she one-ups the popular and cruel MacKenzie in the end. In fact, Nikki who steals her neighbor’s hearing aide and pranks her little sister, is somewhat of a mean girl herself. All other characters in the book are shallow, thin and underdeveloped, including Nikki’s family and her new BFFs, Chloe and Zoey. The numerous illustrations, while well drawn and periodically witty, are much too sophisticated to be believable as drawn by a 14 year old. Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney may enjoy this book as an adventure in déjà vu but from the girl point of view. Recommended for libraries with large collections.
• 
  Avery Bryson

  I'm a 4th grade teacher and have been longing for a book for the girls in my classroom that was comparable to "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." While "Wimpy Kid" is hilarious, the girls in the book are very minor, undeveloped characters at best. After discovering "Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not-So-Fabulous Life," I finally got my wish for His and Her books. I think this book will also be great for my reluctant readers.
  
  Nikki Maxwell is just starting the year at a snobby, private middle school. Not only does she not fit in with the fashion forward girls there, she lives in dread of someone finding out that she is attending the school on a scholarship. Her so-called, "pity" scholarship was arranged by her father as part of his contract as the school's new bug exterminator. And, if all of that wasn't bad enough, her father's work van has a huge 5 foot long roach bolted to the top of it.
  
  Nikki gets assigned a locker right next to MacKenzie, the most popular girl in the school, who labels her a "Dork." So, Nikki hatches a plan that will launch her from dork to diva. All she has to do is win the annual school art show which should be easy enough seeing as she is a very talented artist and has spent the past 5 summers at art camp. However, her dreams are quickly dashed when MacKenzie signs up to compete in the art show and is rumored to be the frontrunner in the competition. At the last minute, Nikki loses her nerve and instead of signing up for the art show she signs up to becomes a library shevling assistant. The story takes off from there.
  
  Nikki shares her fears, dreams, wishes, and frustrations with readers through daily entries in her diary and her funny drawings. The excellent artwork is a variety of manga inspired comic strips, doodles and drawings of the events she is writing about. I would say the artwork is probably more similar in style to "The Absolute True Diary of a Part-time Indian," than the simple comic strip panels in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." My favorite artwork from the book? When an English lit homework assignment requires Nikki to provide a physical description of Shakespeare's character "Puck" from "A Midsummer's Night Dream," her imagination runs wild and she turns in sketches of Puck as Justin Timberlake, Corbin Bleu and Nick Jonas with huge, elf-like ears. Priceless! The girls in my classroom always try to add their favorite pop star crushes to their homework assignments.
  
  Nikki is an imperfect, but endearing character. Her bratty little sister, Brianna, upstages her a few times and is another great character. The book was so funny that I found myself laughing out loud numerous times. I can't wait to share this book with my class. There were also a lot of references to teen pop culture that girls will enjoy.
  
  If you don't have an appreciation for wry humor based on the angst of middle school, then you probably won't like this book (or "Wimpy Kid" for that matter). However, if you want a quick, witty, very funny Tween girl read, then THIS is the perfect book!
• 
  Cassie

  This is obviously a quick cash-in on the Wimpy Kid craze, and it shows. Oh, it SHOWS. Though derivative, I honestly wouldn't have minded a Wimpy Kid from the female perspective, but then I remembered - we already have that in the Amelia series by Marissa Moss, which is much better written and illustrated, and not to mention heartfelt.
  
  The Dork Diaries is painfully vapid and shallow, and our protagonist Nikki is not particularly likable. I'm really not a fan of how she blames popular Mean Girl MacKenzie for a lot of her problems - especially her fear to register for avant-garde art contest - and I'm just tired of the Mean Girl trope anyway. Nikki's new friends Chloe and Zoey seem more interesting to me, but Nikki is oddly dismissive of some of their interests and is a worse friend to them than they are to her. Nikki's sister Brianna has a lot of personality, too - it's really Nikki herself that seems to fall the flattest, and my guess is that she's probably an empty shell mostly to appeal to the largest swath of the tween population as possible.
  
  They're no doubt popular, and Nikki and her friends have streaks of creativity, but it's still junk literature. The only positive thing I can say is that Nikki recognizes she doesn't really want to be part of the CCP (cool, cute, & popular) clique after all, so at least MOST of the messages being sent to readers are positive. There's an awful lot of materialism to contend with, though, and a colleague's description of these books as whining about "First World Problems" was spot-on.
• 
  Mahra

  this book is for 9yo, but am 19 and i really enjoy reading it.
• 
  Era ➴

  I can't lie, it was trash. But I can't give this two stars. I would never betray 9-year-old me like that.
• 
  Mya

  The book that started my obsession in the first place.
• 
  Amy

  Tales from a Not So Fabulous Life is the first book in the Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renée Russell.
  
  Nikki J. Maxwell is an eighth grader that recently changed schools and is now going Westchester Country Day, a private school, because her dad has an extermination contract with the school. She wants to become a part of the CCP girls, Cute, Cool and Popular girls, and she believes a new cell phone will help her do just that. She thought that her mom got her one but realizes is just a diary.
  
  It’s not going to well at her school. She doesn’t have any friends, and her locker is next to Mackenzie, the most popular girl at school and a CCP girl. Nikki loves to draw and is going to sign up for the art competition. Just as she is getting ready to get a form, she sees Mackenzie getting one. Being intimidated by her, Nikki just ends up getting a form to be a library shelving assistant. Even though she wanted to do the art competition, she ends up making friends with two of the other library shelving assistants, Chloe and Zoey. Will Nikki ever be one of the CCP girls? Will Nikki get the courage to enter the art competition? Can she ever stop being shy around Brandon Roberts, her crush?
  
  I really liked this book. I wish it had more of Nikki’s sister Brianna in it. I really thought it was funny when it talked about Brianna and the tooth fairy. I thought all the drawings were cute and wished there were more of them. I loved how Nikki interacted with Brandon and how she coped with going to a new school.
  
• 
  Maliha

  This book is like another version of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They are both hilarious. One of the ages I read in dork diaries cracked me up so badly I laughed out loud until my stomach hurt. I was in the library so everybody was looking at me like I am a weirdo. The part that cracked me up was when she said “Mackenzie and her crew were GGGing. Giggling, Gossiping, and Glossing.” Another part was when she was talking about Tyra Banks. She said that Tyra tells the models “you FAT worthless skanks. You will NEVER, EVER make it in the modeling industry like I did. You have NO idea how much I BLED and SUFFERED. And wipe that SMIRK off yo face before I SLAP it off you little (whatever this is) #@$%&.” It cracked me up. I love the dork diaries. I don’t read them in a particular order. I wonder if there is a fourth book to Dork Diaries. Personally I would choose the Dork Diaries series over the Diary of a wimpy kid. I don’t why. I just think that Nikki (the girl from Dork Diaries) is much much more funnier than Greg (the boy from The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.) I love the Dork Diaries. If you are a person who has a huge sense of humor and loved The Diary of a Wimpy Kid then you will love this book. The thing that strikes me funny is was that she said that she would never write in the diary ever again but she keeps on writing in it. She is like Greg in the girl and more funnier version. She just cracks me up.
  
  it nice i rate it 5 stars
  
• 
  Jeepz

  M picked up the first book in this series two weeks ago. She devoured it, and just finished the second book last night. I came here to look at some of the reviews, and I get the sense that they are not tween kids reading/writing them. While I think reviews from parents (and avid YA book readers in general) are a good thing, for something like this I have to go to the source: my kid.
  
  Let me first say that M really didn't like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. She read the first one, liked it well enough, but never finish book two and that was that. Obviously for her, Dork Diaries are different, if for no other reason that the main character is a girl, and maybe that's enough. The drama, the school intrigue, as much as I might dis it from my 40-year old dad perspective, it keeps her reading and entertained. Not only that, but I have to give her credit, she understands the drama, understands the lessons, understands the consequences of the characters' actions, and while it might be over the top, I think it's all part of story telling for this age.
  
  While there is merit in screening what your kids read, making sure it's appropriate, I think parents can go overboard on protecting their kids from books. M doesn't find this as a reading lesson in how to be whinny, or obnoxious, or mean. Rather, she sees it as a reflection of her life at school, where she has to deal with kids who are whinny, obnoxious, and mean, and hopefully does so in a positive way (or maybe her friends have to deal with her ~grin). Whether the main character in Dork Diaries does so on a regular basis or not, M is able to see it play out in the book and discern for herself what's right and wrong. So far, all I know is she's devouring the books and talking to my wife and I about them, and that's a good thing.
• 
  Paige

  Last year, these books were actually my favorite series. I enjoyed reading stories of a tee- aged girl, who had to go through numerous ups and downs due to her level of unpopularity. In addition,this other really popular girl HATES her with all her life. Staying in this school has become a problem fro Nikki since her father is actually a pest control guy with a truck that has a huge bug on top of the truck- another reason she hates her life in this school. And the worst part is that she is in this school where all of the really rich parents send their children. But she is here on a full scholarship. In the end, she does a bunch of really cool body tatoos on some students and people start paying her for them. Her friends begin to take pictures of the body art. She becomes popular for her amazingly good artwork and then it turns out that her friends entered the pictures of the body art she did in the big art garde art contest. Nikki didnt sign up because she felt intimidated by the way the popular girl was showing off her cool fashion. So Nikki didnt enter. Finally, she won the art contest and it was a big suprise for her and all. And she even got the attention and friendship of her big crush.
• 
  Emilee O.

  I think this was a good book.! It was about a girl named Niki Maxwell who transferred to a new school. She didn't like it at first because she had no friends. Soon she found 2 great friends named Chloe and Zoey. There was a girl named Mackenzie that at first made Niki miserable, but in the end Niki tried to ignore Mackenzie so she had a better school year. She had a secret crush on a boy at her school, his name was Brandon Roberts, soon they became good friends. Niki also entered a drawing contest a her school and placed 1st! She started to love her school because of all the good things that happened her.
  
  My favorite thing that happened in Dork Diaries was when Brianna, Niki's little sister, had to go to the bathroom when her dad was at a job at a costumers house. She went into the bathroom and put on cupcake body spray. When Niki realized the costumers house was Mackenzie's house she tried to get Brianna to come out of the bathroom. She did but Niki told her a little lie, that Mackenzie was the tooth fairy(Brianna is scared of tooth fairies).
  
  I didn't have a least favorite part of the story, I loved it all!
• 
  [S] Bibliophage

  This book series captured my attention because it mentioned that it's sort of like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Based on this first book, I think it's a subtle version of the latter and it tackles bullying issues because of the antagonist Mackenzie. I would still finish reading all the books released so far in this series. But for now, I still prefer the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series because adult readers would enjoy them more. This Dork Diaries series is more appropriate for young female kids ages 12 and below.
• 
  Gideon

  I. would. say. this. is. a diary. of. a. whimpy. kid. parady
• 
  Leslie Martinez

  The book i am reading is called Dork Diaries well this book is about a girl who wishes to have things but can not have them and it is also about a girl who always is mean to Nikki and that girl is the most popular girl at school and everybody is under her hands because she is the queen of the school and that is why everbody in the school is scared of her.
  In Dork Diaries there are a lot of events for example there are a lot of sad events that maybe will make you get tears from your eyes when you read it.The first example is that when Nikki was going to go to her class to return her project she was too late and the dad also was late to take her than when they got there the school was closed because it was too late and she was in the rain with her project and she was getting all wet from the rain and she was so sad and she was also crying then a boy came next to her and cheered her up so she could stop crying and getting upset for not making it on time to her class and also to take her project that she really needed to take to the teachers who asked for the project.I visualized that when she was crying in the rain her eyes looked droopey and her whole body was freezing like a ice cube and i saw that Nikki was so tired of the rain and she really needed a hug because she was out in the rain really cold and she wanted a hug from the boy that was standing right next to her.This helps me understand that Nikki is really sad and she is also so mad at her dad for bringing her late to her school and just leaving her there.
  In the Dork Diaries there are a lot of fun events that i really enjoyed reading about in the book.The first example is that Nikki and her friends were planning to do a plan so they thought about it and finally they decided that they were gonna pay people so they could put tattoos on and they made a lot of money they were so happy because they were making so much money just in one day so they kept on doing the bussiness and they were getting kind of popular and that is the other reason why they were so happy but for a while they had to stop doing that for some reason that a kid had towards it and also part of it was because of the principal so that are the reasons that they had stopped being popular and also getting money.I visualized that when they were doing the tattoos there was a big smile on their faces but they were still all very focused with their work because they did not want to lose customers and their job was really going well and they could not stop until too bad they had to close it because of the mean principal.This helps me understand that their job is really important for them because it was really fun to do and they got payed really well that is why they did not want to lose it so until that day came they were so sad but they had to deal with it because they could not fight with the principal.
  There are also a lot of events that freak you out that you already want to know what is going to happen next.The first example is that when Nikki and her sister sneaked in Magazine's house and the worst part was that she got home they were totally freaked out but they stayed real quiet so Magazine could not see them or hear them also so then Nikki and her sister sneaked out very quietly because if they made noise then Magazine would find them and she would get so mad because they sneaked in her house with no permission but the good thing is that they got out of the house and they waited for their dad to pick them up.I visualized that Nikki and her sister were really worried and freaked out i imagined that they had a horror face and they were being as quiet as a mouse because they did not want Magazine to catch them because if she did she would get so angry and also she would make a big drama just for a little thing.This helps me understand that sneaking into a house that is not yours is bad more bad if you do not have permission so that is why Nikki should never sneak into a house no matter how she hates that person that lives in the house she sneaked in.
  In Conclusion,today i learned a lot of things from what i wrote but what i want to write about is that it is not good to sneak to a house with no permission because you could get into a lot of trouble for sneaking to a house so what Nikki did was wrong the good thing is that they did not catch her being in the house or getting out of the house or getting in the house.
  PROJECT
  
  -Mr.Mateos this is my project
  Hope you liked it
  Sincerely,
  Leslie M.
  
  
  
  
• 
  klise

  A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Wow. LOVED. IT.
  
  Well, to start off, it's about a dorky teen in eighth grade named Nikki Maxwell. She has two friends named Chloe and Zoey, whom she both met while on the job as a library shelf assistant (putting books back into their proper places on the shelves). She has a crush on the school reporter, Brandon Roberts, but feels like she's too lame for him to like her. There's a mean girl at her school, apparently the most popular, named MacKenzie Hollister, and the two are, pretty much, archenemies.
  
  Throughout the book, Nikki talks the reader through what happened in school that day, and all the drama caused at- whoops, forgot to introduce the school's name(!)- the prep school, Westchester Country Days. She talks about the person she is and the person she wants to be, how embarrassing her parents are, how unfair life is, etc. She dabs in some text lingo (that I suspiciously think she thought of herself). The story mostly wraps around an art competition called Avant-Garde Art.
  
  MacKenzie and Nikki both apply for the competition, and pretty much the whole school believes Kenzie will win. She believes that herself, too, and continuously discourages Nikki and humiliates her. One day, to suck up to the librarian [insert name here] in order to be able to go to New York and get famous authors' autographs, Nikki give Chloe and Zoey cool tattoos she draws on herself (using a pen). The school then becomes interested in them, and other students apply to get them themselves. Donate books for a tattoo.
  
  When the day of the art submission comes, Nikki rides to school in her dad's roach-car (Maxwell's extermination business thingy), yes the dreaded car she absolutely didn't want to be caught in, with her rad watercolor painting. MacKenzie comes out with paintings of mannequins in her dream fashion line, Fab-4-Ever, and snickers and sneers at Nikki when the watercolor painting is crushed under a tire of the roach-car. Kenzie proceeds to submit her art, while Nikki sits, devastated, out on the sidewalk, in the rain. She finally enters the school with Brandon, who miraculously finds her sitting outside, but when she finds graffiti saying "bug girl" on her locker, she decides it is the last straw, and plans to transfer. Just when her parents are finishing the transfer sheet, Nikki spots an entry.
  
  The entry is titled "Student Body." By? Nikki Maxwell. It consists entirely of the tattoos Nikki drew onto the students before, and it is ranked NUMBER 1. NUMERO UNO. Later, in the janitor's closet Chloe and Zoey explained that they decided on the project, and entered it for Nikki, because the original painting was lost. The duo had worked on it for hours with Brandon. Nikki jokes about how she didn't get to see Kenzie's face, yadda yadda. Happy ending! Yay! But, yes, it does leave the reader with a mostly-satisfied, happy feeling, after reading the last page, where Brandon asks Nikki to work on a science lab with him and she answers.
• 
  Emma

  As I was looking around books, I came across this book. I have not read The Diary of a Whimpy Kid series, which I'm thinking the books may be similar, except one is more for boys and one for girls.
  
  Either way, I got the book from my public library for my niece, who will be going to middle school next year (where has the time gone?) She went outside to play, so I started reading the book and really enjoyed it. It had me cracking up the whole time. I think many kids, especially in middle school can relate to. Actually, anyone can relate to this because we've all been in similar situations. The graphics are beautiful and I too wish I could draw like Nikki :-)
  
  Being the Twilight fan that I am, there was a line on page 186 that had me cracking up..."After reading TWILIGHT, she [Chloe:] had learned that forbidden love, obsession, and sacrifice could be very messy things. Just like snot."
  
  I will definitely have my niece read this book. I think she will truly enjoy it :-)
• 
  Chynna

  Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
  by Rachel R. Russell
  Reading Response by Chynna
  
  This book is the first in the Dork Diaries series that currently consists of Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life, Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl, and Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star.
  This is Nikki's diary. Through sketches and diary entries, Nikki tells about her struggles being the new girl (/dork) at her brand-new private middle school (that she can only afford to go to because of the new school exterminator's, A.K.A. her DAD'S, contract), dealing with the mean girl that everyone at school seems to love EXCEPT Nikki, Mackenzie, who just so happens to hate her right back, and confessing the truth to her secret crush, Brandon. Along the way, Nikki makes two amazing new friends, Chloe and Zoey, and they instantly click! Mackenzie, meanwhile, has plans to win the school art competition. Can Nikki defeat her arch rival?
  I recommend this great book about a girl facing the challenges of middle school to girls that like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
• 
  Jennifer Wardrip

  Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
  
  Nikki Maxwell is going to a new private school. She wants to be accepted into the popular group but she believes that in order to do that she needs an expensive cell phone, a new wardrobe, and a new family.
  
  She finds out the hard way who her real friends are and how her mad skillz in art can help her be accepted.
  
  My fifth grade boys love DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, and this is a series I can introduce to my girls, which is written in the same style. Nikki is likable but can be annoying at times, which makes me like her even more. She isn't perfect but yet gets what is important in life.
  
  She has two great friends, who again aren't perfect, but are very realistic. Between her and her two friends they get themselves into a lot of humorous situations that many middle schoolers can identify with.
  
  I enjoyed this book a lot and hope to have many copies next year to share with my class.
• 
  Eden

  Nikki has started a new school and for starting a new school her mom gets her a diary. It definitely wasn't the cell phone she wanted, but she writes in it anyway.
  Nikki doesn't think she fits in at the school and has to deal with the popular girl at the school, who is pretty mean to her. How much worse can life get for Nikki?
  
  I've read the first few books in The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and loved them. When I found out about this series, I decided to give it a try since I greatly enjoyed The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
  Dork Diaries is a lot like The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but it is the girl version. I think it is just as funny as Wimpy Kid and I enjoyed every second of reading it. I couldn't put it down.
  I love the book and Nikki, even if she overacts to things. She is different than Greg from Wimpy Kid, though. Greg can be very selfish and while I think Nikki can be that way sometimes to, she is not like Greg. The things she does are funny, though and her overacting.
  I think fans of Wimpy Kid will love this book. I know I did.