Meet Nikki Maxwell (aka Queen of the Dorks!) in the first book in the mega-selling Dork Diaries series, for fans of Lottie Brooks. Join the jokes, drama and aDORKable BFFs with over 50 million copies in print worldwide! All the kids laughed and cheered because they thought it was all part of his very funny clown act. But I was SO upset, I couldn’t eat any of my birthday cake. Happy to report I liked this one a lot more than I liked the last one. If you ignore the cringy fortnite references, it was really enjoyable. It felt like the good old days when the series was just starting with Nikki and her friends doing crazy stuff that would get them arrested. I loved this series first books. Books 1-6 are all amazing. 7, 8 and 9 are also really worth the read. But something just happened around book 10. It's like if Barbie were in book form, she'd be books 10-13. At least that's the vibe I get. Maybe I'm just getting too old for these books (I'm in my last year of junior high). The problem is I have no idea what happened with this series. The earlier books are so good and they slowly became...this. I enjoyed it well enough, but it's like 'problem. problem solved. problem. problem solved. problem. oh, wait that wasn't a problem at all!' repeat cycle. This book was confusing, slightly weird and the story isn't whole. I sound like I'm just saying," The old Dork Diaries were better!" and theywere in my opinion. But if this is the way Rachel Renee Russell wants her books to go, I'll stop ranting. Her books, her choice. I think she's changed the books' target demographic to much younger and I don't have a problem with that. If I can't enjoy these books anymore, that's my headache. Just imagine a FABULOUS and FUN bash at the Westchester Country Club with a band, DJ, all-you-can-eat pizza, ice-cream sundae bar, two hundred of my closest friends, my loyal BFFs, my adorkable CRUSH, and a humongous birthday cake.

Finally, sisters can also be friends – or not! Cathy Cassidy’s Chocolate Box Girls series is about step-sisters, and explores this sibling friendship dynamic. Join in! Oh la la! Nikki and her band are invited to Paris for a super cool photoshoot – it’s a dream come true! Nikki can’t wait to learn new art styles, practice her French and explore the most romantic city in the world with her crush Brandon.

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For once, my life will be DRAMA FREE!! WOO-HOO 😃! Not likely! This is Nikki we’re talking about. She still hasn’t decided if she will be spending two weeks in Paris (all expenses paid) or going on tour with her band (you know, totally normal people problems), she’s annoyed by her sister’s culinary mash ups and freaking out about whatever potential disaster may unfold during the birthday party her two best friends are planning for her. We can’t miss out The Princess Diaries – a classic series by Meg Cabot, but do read the books before you watch the films. Funny, warm-hearted and full of drama, they are a must-read. If it’s the diary format that’s particularly captivating, try The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. by Jen Carney. Follow the feisty Billie’s ups and downs as she tries to work out who the school purse thief is. Could it be the annoying new girl trying to steal her BFF? Bea in Diary of an Accidental Witch by Perdita and Honor Cargill also has school troubles – her dad’s sent her to a school for witches!

The latest fictional novel by the Rachel Renee Russell’s ”Dork Diaries” is Tales from a NOT-SO-Happy Birthday, which is thirteenth in the series. As always, Russell delivers a funny yet plot-twisting story, geared toward children and young teens. Millions of fans love reading about Nikki Maxwell and her adorkable mishaps at high school. The doodles, sketches and short diary entries make the Dork Diaries series super appealing. Plus, all the cringe moments with her family, and the fun with her BFFs are so relatable. Anyway, my birthday is on Saturday, June 28, and my BFFs, Chloe and Zoey, are BEGGING me to throw a big birthday party. Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson is a classic and asks the question what would you do if your best friend moved miles away?When I started this series I found Nikki to be relatable, if kinda melodramatic, and sweet. She’s got a loving family and friends and used to have cute little dramas at school that pretty much anyone could relate to. These days her problems are essentially most peoples’ dreams come true. I wonder how she’d cope if she had to face a real problem. I used to love this series but at this point I think I’m done. 🙁 If illustrations are important to this reader, try The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby, which has similar doodle pictures, and the two-colour graphic novel Frankie’s World by Aoife Dooley. Both chart the main character’s often hilarious progress through the choppy waters of secondary school and friendship. Similarly, Loki by Louie Stowell has scribbles and drawings throughout it, and is the very funny story of the Norse god Loki forced to go to school as a human boy. There’s no character development and “SQUEEE 😃!!”, which was kinda cute for the first few books, is really annoying me now. I understand that catchphrases can be important in the continuity of a series but I would have liked to have seen some new ones added to the ones that have been used for 13 books now. I’m also over Nikki throwing up in her mouth a little; she did it four times in this book alone.