Dork Diaries: Drama Queen

My seven and a half year-old daughter loves the Dork Diaries series. My son also loved them when he was younger but I never read any of the books myself. I bought this one for my daughter at the school book fair and we decided to read it together – meaning I read it out loud to her.

This is the

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ninth book in the series but it easily stands alone. Nikki writes all about her and her friends’ middle school drama in her diary. The entries are punctuated with cute illustrations of Nikki and other people.

The drama in this particular book is two-fold. One, there is a rumor going around school that the only reason Nikki’s crush Brandon kissed her is because someone dared him with the promise of pizza from Queasy Cheesy if he did it.

Secondly, midway through the book, Nikki’s arch nemesis Mackenzie steals Nikki’s diary and starts writing her own entries in it! I thought this was a clever way for Mackenzie to have a turn at first person narration without having to deviate from the premise that we are reading Nikki’s diary.

I’m glad Neve and I read this together because as Nikki would say, OMG. Nikki and Mackenzie are so mean to each other in both words and actions. Especially in words. As we read, Neve and I talked about how mean their words were and how it’s not nice to speak to other people that way. So for I haven’t noticed her using any of Nikki or Mackenzie’s insults on her brothers. Fingers crossed! If it becomes a problem, then I probably won’t let her keep reading the books.

When Mackenzie takes over the diary, we learn that her life as the spoiled daughter of super rich parents isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And hearing Mackenzie’s side of the story of things that have transpired between her and Nikki shows that Nikki isn’t perfect either. Of course, she’s still way nicer than Mackenzie!

I think this book might teach readers some empathy, especially for Mackenzie, but mostly it’s just a fun read. I was surprised how invested in the story I became. I had to know if the rumor about Brandon was true! Dork Diaries may not be destined to be a literary classic but it held my ADHD daughter’s attention for 45 minute stretches at a time when we sat at the gym while her brother had his gymnastics lesson. That’s saying something!

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