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

Dork Diaries remains one of my favorite book series to this day. This goes hand in hand with Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They are both relatable to younger readers and are something you can get through easily, and books like these also helped contribute to my early love for chapter books.

In this first book by Rachel Renée Russell, the story follows Nikki Maxwell, an eighth grader who has just moved to a new school and is trying to figure out where she fits in. The story is told through Nikki’s diary, where she writes about everything going on in her life. From dealing with school drama and friendships to having crushes and arguments with her family, Nikki shares her thoughts in a way that feels honest and funny.

A big part of the story focuses on Nikki’s rivalry with MacKenzie Hollister, the popular girl at school. The two end up competing in a school art contest, which creates a lot of tension and funny situations along the way. Nikki loves drawing, and the book includes little sketches from her diary that show what she’s thinking and feeling.

One of the best parts about the story is how relatable it can feel, especially for younger readers going through middle school. Nikki has awkward moments, embarrassing situations, and times where she feels like she doesn’t fit in, which makes her a really easy character to understand. The mix of diary writing and drawings also keeps the book fun and easy to read.

I love this book series! Nikki is so funny and cool! I can't wait to read book 7!
Nikki makes her hatred for Mackenzie seem so real, same as her friendships with Chloe and Zoey. Although, her little sister is crazy!

The best parts of the book Dork Diaries is the drama, family problems and the making friends problems of the book.

This book involves a lot of drama one of the many drama problems is Mackenzie the most popular girl in school. She causes a lot of problems by making people feel bad. This is probably the most interesting thing about the book. One of the problems is that Nikki the main character comes to a new school and she is having problem making new friends but Mackenzie is making it worse and harder for her to make friends, by making her feel bad in public. That is basic drama in the book.
The family problems are very little. The thing that makes Nikki get annoyed more than the drama. One thing is that Nikki’s parents just barge into her room without permission. Also her family is psycho.
The making friends problem is that when ever she gets to school she feels like everyone thinks that she is a loser. In reality the only people who think that are Mackenzie and her gang of popular friends. In this book you feel so bad for Nikki because she never gets the attention she deserves and when she does gets attention it’s always something negative. This book is easy to relate to! I hope you will read the book and the whole series it’s great!

After an intense month of reading novels with intercultural themes, I thought a break, in the form of chick lit might be warranted. Turns out, I don’t always have smart ideas. In my second week of delving into light reading, I’m already flipping pages just to get to the end of another dang book. This time my reading adventures led me to Dork Diaries by Rachel Russell, which I checked out because it was being touted as the girls’ equivalent to the Wimpy Kid series. The latter I am proud to share with my students. As for Dork Diaries, the first book in the series was such a bore that I won’t be reading any further.

The first reason I don’t like Dork Diariess is the paint-by-numbers plot. It’s all about Nikki, who wants to be popular but is a dork. She desperately wants to be asked out by cute-guy Brandon, but thinks he is unaware of her existence. And oh, by the way, mean-girl Mackenzie hates Nikki’s guts. If you think this plot sounds anything like Baby Mouse, which I reviewed last week, give yourself a pat on the back. If you think the plot sounds anything like half the chick-lit books you have read in the last year or in your lifetime, you now know why I was so eager for Dork Diaries to end.

In all fairness, I’ll admit there are some scenes between Nikki and Mackenzie that I halfway liked. For example, there is school Halloween dance. Although it came as no surprise that Mackenzie was voted chairperson for it, she did manage to temporarily shock a few people with her emotional resignation from the position. However, it soon became apparent, when all of Mackenzie’s friends also immediately quit, that she had an evil plan. You see, Mackenzie apparently has rich sponsors that enable her to afford to pay for an extravagant party. Yes, the clichés keep coming. Anyway, while I found this psychotic meanness on Mackenzie’s part over-the-top, I kind of enjoyed watching Nikki and her friends figure out how to save the day. If you think that revelation is a spoiler, I bet you can guess for yourself who asks Nikki to the dance.

The second reason I don’t like Dork Diaries is the main character. Even though author Rachel Russell didn’t exactly write in run-on sentences, I still felt as if as if Nikki would never shut up. Yes, Nikki is the main character and so should narrate the story, but most of the time she just endlessly spews random complaints with no basis in reality. Why does Nikki call herself a dork? She has loyal friends, gets attention from at least one guy, and likes to shop and party. Why does she ever doubt Brandon will ask her out? At the very least, why does she think he’ll ask out Mackenzie? He hangs around with Nikki, talks with Nikki, and acts like Nikki’s friend. Not once does he ever seriously talk to Mackenzie. Last, why does Mackenzie’s life revolve around ridiculing Nikki?

There are chick lit books which I love, such as My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison which differs from Dork Diaries on so many levels. For one thing, the main character gets herself into scrapes of her own making and then gets herself out of them by learning some lessons about sisters, boys, love, and life. As for the Wimpy Kid series, to which the Dork Diaries are compared, Greg might sometimes be a jerk but somehow his life feels a whole lot truer than Nikki’s.

Reader reviewed by Alexis G.

I read the book Dork Diaries: Tales From A Not So Fabulous Life. This book is by Rachel Renee Russell. In the book a girl name Nikki goes to a new private school, Westchester Country Day School. In Nikki's opinion finding friends, classes, and where to sit at lunch is a challenge.  Also Nikki hates having a locker next to Mackenzie( aka the mean popular girl.) At least she gets one good thing for right now.  She might get to meet some friends. One of the cruelest parts is that one day she ALMOST missed a ride to school.  Another cruel part is when she gets trapped in Mackenzie's house.  She also gets to experience what it is like to be a normal teenager.  She has an annoying little sister Brianna. I think the author did a good job of explaining things clearly.  I had a great picture in my head of what was going on.   One thing Rachel Russell could have done better was to explain why Mackenzie is always so mean to people.  I think girls 10 and up who enjoy funny and cartoon style stories would love this book.  My overall rating is 4 stars out of 5.  Dork Diaries is a fun, quick read.