Dork Diaries: Tales from A Not-So-Fabulous Life (2009)

Sana Bashir 05.10.13

Nikki is a middle school girl who desperately wants a cell phone. When her parents give her a diary instead, she uses it to express her disappointment. Then she begins using it to display her art, relay her school drama, and her hopes at making real friends.

Really, a 2 1/2. This series is quite popular with the middle grade girls at my school... Diary of a Wimpy Kid gone female. And it has plenty of funny moments, but it just kind of lost credibility for me when I discovered that Nikki is supposed to be 14 years old. I just couldn't buy it... her fixation on the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana would have been believable in an 11- or 12-year-old narrator, maybe, but not 14. The references to trendy pop stars who are trendy no longer have already dated the first title in the series, and Russell just seems to try too hard with WAY too many OMGs and other chatter that is supposed to sound like today's young teen but instead just sounds kind of exhausting. Eh. ( )

The book was cute. Recommeded for girls between the ages of 9-13. (Even better if you could snuggle up and read together with your daughter!)

Basically the female version of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" the story follows Nikki Maxwell during her first couple of months at her new private school. Unlike the rest of the student body, Nikki has secured a place in the school because her father was awarded the contract for pest control....totally embarrasing for Nikki!

Of course, there is the popular girl Mackenzie and her crew the CCP, the jocks, the bookworms, the cute but non-chalent boy...and so on. Nikki dishes all the drama between school and home in the pages of her diary along with humerous illustrations thrown in for good measure.



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i thought it was ok ( )