“You’re right, MacKenzie,” Nikki said, standing up. She grabbed a dry-erase marker from the whiteboard. “We’re terrible rule-breakers. We deserve… public shaming.”
Nikki’s face flushed as red as the book’s glittery lettering. If MacKenzie posted a photo of them with the advanced copy, the publisher might recall it. Worse, their secret reading fort would be discovered.
Later, after the final bell, Nikki carefully placed the advanced copy back on the ‘New Books’ cart. She’d only gotten to page two hundred. But she felt a strange sense of peace. dork diaries books new
But as Nikki stared at MacKenzie’s smug face, a line from page one-seventy-two echoed in her head: “Sometimes, the best way to deal with a bully isn’t to fight back. It’s to make them laugh… at themselves.”
“Page one-forty-two,” Nikki whispered, her voice reverent. “She draws a mustache on McKenzie’s campaign poster.” “You’re right, MacKenzie,” Nikki said, standing up
The new Dork Diaries book hadn’t just given her a few hours of escape. It had given her a weapon. Not a sword of insults, but a shield of laughter. And for the first time, Nikki Maxwell realized that being a dork wasn't about the books you read. It was about the courage to write your own story—even if it was full of doodles, disasters, and the occasional unflattering portrait of a popular girl.
Chloe snorted so loudly the librarian, Mr. Grumbles, shushed her from across the room. We deserve… public shaming
Before anyone could stop her, Nikki drew a quick, terrible doodle on the whiteboard. It was a princess in a sparkly crown, but with giant buck teeth and a unibrow. Underneath, she wrote: “MacKenzie’s New Year’s Resolution: Find a personality that isn’t just her phone case.”