Dork Diaries

Dork Diaries is a series of books directed at tween girls by Rachel Renee Russell. They follow the misadventures of Nikki J. Maxwell, a slightly bratty and shallow but still well-meaning and likable fourteen year old girl. The story begins when Nikki's family moves because of her father's job, and Nikki is transferred to Westchester Country Day, a private school that is much too fancy for Nikki's tastes. There, she meets MacKenzie Hollister (resident mean girl), Chloe Garcia and Zoey Franklin (unpopular but awesome new friends), and Brandon Roberts (Nikki's crush, MacKenzie's crush, and overall Nice Guy).

There are three books so far, as well as a companion.

• Book One: Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not So Fabulous Life
• Book Two: Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not So Popular Party Girl
• Book Three: Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not So Talented Pop Star
• Book Three and a Half: How to Dork Your Diary

Tropes used in Dork Diaries include:

• Adults Are Useless
• Alpha Bitch: MacKenzie, complete with a Girl Posse.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents
• Animesque: Justified, as Nikki is an artist.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Brianna to Nikki, Amanda to MacKenzie.
• Blondes Are Evil: MacKenzie.
• Brainy Brunette: Chloe and Zoey. Sometimes, Nikki.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Nikki, at times. MacKenzie, all the time.
• Brutal Honesty: Chloe and Zoey are always quick to tell Nikki when her plans or ideas kind of suck. Subverted by Nikki as she often says something brutally honest, and then admits "but I just said that inside my head, so no one heard it but me."
• Buffy-Speak
• Bumbling Dad
• Catch Phrase:
  • Nikki's "but I just said that inside my head, so no one heard it but me." "WHATEVER!" probably qualifies by now.
    • "I just HATE it when MacKenzie sashays!
  • MacKenzie frequently says "OMG" and "hon."
• Comic Trio: Chloe or Zoey comes up with the insane/stupid plans, the other one agrees, and Nikki is left wondering whether or not she's flypaper for freaks.
• Cool Loser: Chloe, Zoey, and Nikki would likely be popular if people would give them a chance.
• Distaff Counterpart: The series is a somewhat obvious one to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, right down to the non-canonical do-it-yourself installment between books 3 and 4.
• Eating Lunch Alone: Nikki, before she meets Zoey and Chloe in gym class.
• Establishing Character Moment: MacKenzie's first appearance has a path immediately clearing for her as people shout out compliments to her.
• Evil Laugh: According to Nikki, MacKenzie has one.
• Girlish Pigtails: How Nikki's hair is usually worn.
• Girl Posse: MacKenzie has one, the most prominent member being her best friend Jessica.
• Gym Class Hell: Gym class sucks if you're Nikki.
• Happy Dance: Nikki's "Snoopy happy dance."
• High School Dance: The entire plot of Not So Popular Party Girl revolves around two of them (MacKenzie's birthday party and the school Halloween dance), as well as an elementary school dance (Brianna's ballet class Halloween party).
• Les Yay: Between Chloe and Zoey.
• Make Way for the Princess: After Nikki nearly gets killed trying to get through the hallway and to her locker, a path immediately clears for MacKenzie.
• Masquerade Ball: The Halloween dance in book 2.
• Nerds Are Sexy: Chloe and Zoey are both huge nerds (and arguably, so is Nikki), and are very cute.
• Nice Guy: Brandon.
• Only Sane Man: Nikki is the most normal of her trio, but Brandon is by far the most normal character of them all.
• Popular Is Dumb: MacKenzie is smart enough, but Jessica isn't all that bright.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: The entire student population sucks up to MacKenzie.
• Running Gag:
  • MacKenzie "sashaying" away, and Nikki then commenting on how much she hates that.
  • Jazz hands.
• School Newspaper Newshound: Brandon
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Nikki mentions that she feels beautiful when she wears the Juliet costume for the Halloween dance.
• Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy: Nikki (like MacKenzie has a huge crush on Brandon, who is fairly well liked. However, it seems he might actually like her back.
• Spicy Latina: Chloe
• Token Trio: Nikki (who is white), Chloe (who is Hispanic), and Zoey (who is black).
• Two-Timer Date: At the climax of the second book, Nikki tries to: hang out with Chloe and Zoey at the Halloween dance (dressed as trash bags); be Brandon's date at the Halloween dance (dressed as Juliet); and help out at Brianna's ballet class Halloween party (dressed as a giant rat). It doesn't work out very well.
• Valley Girl: MacKenzie, and, to a much lesser extent, Nikki.
• Women Are Wiser: Inverted; Brandon is the most sane character in the book.
• Zany Scheme: Usually on behalf of Chloe and Zoey. The most insane of all has to be the "run away and live in the NYC library" plan from Not So Fabulous Life.