Review: Dork Diaries Tales From a Not-So-Fabulous Life, by Rachel Renee Russell

Dork Diaries is the girls' answer to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and it's probably about as good as it could get. Rachel Renee Russell writes with energy and zeal and her comedy never grows tiring. Her drawings, while not as charismatic as Jeff Kinney's, have a distinct personality. In the vein of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, this does not have a straightforward plot, per se, but it's plot structure is much more traditional than Wimpy Kid's. There's the new school, the crush, the rivalry, and an art competition that make up the bulk of the story. None of this is particularly new, but the way Russell tells it makes it feel fresh.

Nikki, like Greg Heffley, has been given a diary from her mother. Only, where Greg wants to make sure readers don't call his a diary, Nikki vows to never write in it. But once she breaks that vow, she can't stop. Nikki is a middle school student who has just moved into a new school. Like many young girls, she wants to be popular. So it's infuriating that her mom won't purchase a cell phone like all the popular kids at school have. Even more infuriating is that Mackenzie, one of the most popular girls in the school, has a locker right next to hers. Thus begins a rivalry.

Often we are oblivious to the effect we have on others, or how others view us, and this is especially true in those egotistical teenage years. Russell does a nice job of portraying this through Nikki. Nikki does not think much of herself, and yet when it appears that Mackenzie has begun to take notice of her, the reader sees how others find something to envy about her. Not that Nikki ever notices this, but in order for a rivalry to form, this means both parties must sense some form of superiority in the other that must be overcome. Realizing the positive ways others see you is a powerful way to boost confidence and self-esteem, and I hope girls reading this (I can't imagine too many boys reading it) could apply this lesson to themselves.

Where Diary of a Wimpy Kid appeals to both boys and girls, Dork Diaries appeals only to girls. This is largely because girls will read almost any kind of book, but boys are much more picky. And Dork Diaries is clearly written to appeal to girls. The rivalry is one element aimed at girls. Diary of a Wimpy Kid has moments of bullying, but not truly a rivalry. There's also the romance - the typical sort of thing where the girl has a crush on this cute guy but doesn't believe he even notices her, even though clues that are obvious to the reader show that he has the same feelings. Some of the humor also relates to Nikki's insecurities with her own appearance. Multiple times Nikki makes fun of her own inadequacy to look good in an outfit the popular girls wear, and there are also the jokes about things on Nikki's face, such as one moment when she develops a rash on her ear. Russell taps into this insecurity over appearance as something girls might relate to, and one could criticize the book for perpetuating rather than combating this obsession, but sometimes a work of art is meant to reflect, not correct.

Popular as this series is, Russell has obviously tapped into something, and I admit that I enjoyed it as well, much more than I expected.