Dork Diaries: Party Time

Name: Dork Diaries: Party Time
Author: Rachel Renee Russell

by Rachel Renee Russell

Ages 9–12 Reading age 9 Novel Set in school funnywry

Nikki is invited to the Halloween dance by the boy she likes, on the same night her parents have booked her to work a children's party.

A story about children, funny and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 9–12, and at a reading age of about 9 for reading alone.

Nothing flagged

We have not flagged any content in this one that a parent would usually want warning about.

Part of a series

This is book 2 of the Dork Diaries series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.

Our take on this book

Nikki Maxwell survives middle school and its social minefield by pouring everything into her diary — crushes, mean girls, mortifying disasters — and in this instalment a party (and the dreaded queen bee) provides fresh humiliation to record. Rachel Renée Russell's series is the diary-and-doodles format aimed squarely at girls: hand-lettered pages, sketches, and a warm, funny, self-deprecating narrator navigating friendships and embarrassment. Like its Wimpy Kid cousin, the illustrated diary style makes it fly by and feel approachable to a reader who finds dense text off-putting. There is nothing here to worry a parent; the drama is entirely social — crushes, cliques and cringe. For an eight- to twelve-year-old, particularly one wobbling on the edge of the tween years, Nikki is a relatable, likeable guide to it all, and the format is one of the more reliable ways to keep a reluctant reader turning pages through a whole long series.