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Dork Diaries 2 Full-Color Edition
Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
Book #2 of Dork Diaries Full-Color Editions
Illustrated by Rachel Renée Russell
Table of Contents
About the Book
With brand-new, full-color illustrations, the #1 New York Times bestselling Dork Diaries series comes alive in full bloom and geared for a new modern middle grade audience. In the second book, Nikki Maxwell is torn between two parties!
Settled in at her new school and flanked by awesome friends Chloe and Zoey, life is looking up for Nikki Maxwell, especially since her crush, Brandon, asked her to be his lab partner—a seriously awesome development. However, when Nikki overhears mean girl MacKenzie bragging that Brandon’s taking her to the Halloween dance, a bummed Nikki signs on to spend Halloween at a kids’ party with her little sister, Brianna, instead.
After she finds out Mackenzie was lying and her dream of going to the dance with Brandon could be a reality, Nikki has two events to juggle…plus plenty of other entertaining trials and tribulations along the way!
Settled in at her new school and flanked by awesome friends Chloe and Zoey, life is looking up for Nikki Maxwell, especially since her crush, Brandon, asked her to be his lab partner—a seriously awesome development. However, when Nikki overhears mean girl MacKenzie bragging that Brandon’s taking her to the Halloween dance, a bummed Nikki signs on to spend Halloween at a kids’ party with her little sister, Brianna, instead.
After she finds out Mackenzie was lying and her dream of going to the dance with Brandon could be a reality, Nikki has two events to juggle…plus plenty of other entertaining trials and tribulations along the way!
Excerpt
1. Friday, October 11 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11
I can’t believe this is happening to me! I’m in the girls’ bathroom having a complete
There’s NO WAY I’m going to survive middle school. I’ve just made a FOOL of myself in front of my secret crush. AGAIN!
And if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m stuck with a locker right next to MacKenzie Hollister’s !
Who, BTW, is the most POPULAR girl at Westchester Country Day Middle School and a total SNOB. Calling her a “MEAN GIRL” is an understatement. She’s a KILLER SHARK in sparkly nail polish, designer jeans, and strawberry lip gloss. But for some reason, everyone ADORES her.
Description 1
MacKenzie and I do NOT get along. I’m guessing it’s probably because she
HATES MY GUTS !!
She is always gossiping behind my back and saying really MEAN stuff about me.
She said I have no fashion sense whatsoever.
And that our school mascot,
LARRY THE LIZARD,
is CUTER and has more FRIENDS than I do.
Which is probably true. But STILL!
I do NOT appreciate that girl
BLABBING
about MY personal business. This morning she was even more
VICIOUS
than usual.
Description 2
I could NOT believe she actually said that to me! I mean, how can a COLOR clash with a FLAVOR?! DUH!! They’re, like, two TOTALLY different, um… THINGS!
That’s when I lost it and yelled, “Sorry, MacKenzie! But I’m REALLY busy right now. Can I IGNORE you some other time?!”
But I just said it inside my head, so no one else heard it but me.
And if all of that isn’t enough TORTURE, the annual Westchester Country Day Halloween dance is in less than three weeks!
It’s the biggest event of the fall, and everyone is already gossiping about who’s going with who.
I’d just totally DIE if my secret crush,
BRANDON
asked me to go!
Yesterday he actually asked ME to be his lab partner for biology class! I was SO excited, I did my…
“SNOOPY HAPPY DANCE”!
“I’M SO HAPPY !”
And today I had a sneaking suspicion Brandon was going to “pop the question” about the Halloween dance.
The school day seemed to drag on FOREVER. By the time I got to biology class, I was a nervous wreck. Suddenly a very troubling question popped into my head and I started to panic: WHAT if Brandon only thought of me as a lab partner and nothing more ?!
That’s when I decided to try to impress him with my charm, wit, and intelligence.
I gave him a big smile and went right to work drawing all these teeny-tiny lint-looking thingies I saw under the microscope.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Brandon staring at me with this urgent yet very perplexed look on his face.
It was obvious he wanted to talk to me about something SUPER SERIOUS… !
Description 3 Description 4 Description 5 Description 6
OMG! Those THINGIES in the microscope really WERE just LINT! I was SO EMBARRASSED!!
I knew right then and there I had pretty much blown any chance of Brandon asking me to the dance.
But the good news was, I had made a startling scientific discovery about my intelligence and even reduced it to a working formula.
Then things got even WORSE.
I was in the girls’ bathroom when I overheard MacKenzie bragging to her friends that she was practically 99.9% sure she and Brandon were going to the Halloween dance together as
ROMEO AND JULIET!
I was VERY disappointed, but not the least bit surprised.
I mean, WHY would Brandon ask a total DORK like ME when he could go with a CCP (Cute, Cool & Popular) girl like MacKenzie?
And get this! As they were leaving, MacKenzie giggled and said she was buying a new lip gloss JUST for Brandon.
I knew what THAT meant!
I was SO frustrated and angry at myself.
I waited until the bathroom was empty, and then I had a really good SCREAM.
Which, for some strange reason, always makes me feel A LOT better !
Middle school can be very TRAUMATIZING, that’s for sure!!
But the most important thing to remember is this.…
Always remain CALM and try to handle your PERSONAL problems in a PRIVATE and MATURE manner.
STUDENTS REACT TO A PRIVATE SCREAM-FEST!
IF ANYONE OVERHEARS YOUR PRIVATE SCREAM-FEST, YOUR REPUTATION WILL BE PERMANENTLY RUINED AND YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY TRANSFER TO A NEW SCHOOL!
!
I can’t believe this is happening to me! I’m in the girls’ bathroom having a complete
There’s NO WAY I’m going to survive middle school. I’ve just made a FOOL of myself in front of my secret crush. AGAIN!
And if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m stuck with a locker right next to MacKenzie Hollister’s !
Who, BTW, is the most POPULAR girl at Westchester Country Day Middle School and a total SNOB. Calling her a “MEAN GIRL” is an understatement. She’s a KILLER SHARK in sparkly nail polish, designer jeans, and strawberry lip gloss. But for some reason, everyone ADORES her.
Description 1
MacKenzie and I do NOT get along. I’m guessing it’s probably because she
HATES MY GUTS !!
She is always gossiping behind my back and saying really MEAN stuff about me.
She said I have no fashion sense whatsoever.
And that our school mascot,
LARRY THE LIZARD,
is CUTER and has more FRIENDS than I do.
Which is probably true. But STILL!
I do NOT appreciate that girl
BLABBING
about MY personal business. This morning she was even more
VICIOUS
than usual.
Description 2
I could NOT believe she actually said that to me! I mean, how can a COLOR clash with a FLAVOR?! DUH!! They’re, like, two TOTALLY different, um… THINGS!
That’s when I lost it and yelled, “Sorry, MacKenzie! But I’m REALLY busy right now. Can I IGNORE you some other time?!”
But I just said it inside my head, so no one else heard it but me.
And if all of that isn’t enough TORTURE, the annual Westchester Country Day Halloween dance is in less than three weeks!
It’s the biggest event of the fall, and everyone is already gossiping about who’s going with who.
I’d just totally DIE if my secret crush,
BRANDON
asked me to go!
Yesterday he actually asked ME to be his lab partner for biology class! I was SO excited, I did my…
“SNOOPY HAPPY DANCE”!
“I’M SO HAPPY !”
And today I had a sneaking suspicion Brandon was going to “pop the question” about the Halloween dance.
The school day seemed to drag on FOREVER. By the time I got to biology class, I was a nervous wreck. Suddenly a very troubling question popped into my head and I started to panic: WHAT if Brandon only thought of me as a lab partner and nothing more ?!
That’s when I decided to try to impress him with my charm, wit, and intelligence.
I gave him a big smile and went right to work drawing all these teeny-tiny lint-looking thingies I saw under the microscope.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Brandon staring at me with this urgent yet very perplexed look on his face.
It was obvious he wanted to talk to me about something SUPER SERIOUS… !
Description 3 Description 4 Description 5 Description 6
OMG! Those THINGIES in the microscope really WERE just LINT! I was SO EMBARRASSED!!
I knew right then and there I had pretty much blown any chance of Brandon asking me to the dance.
But the good news was, I had made a startling scientific discovery about my intelligence and even reduced it to a working formula.
Then things got even WORSE.
I was in the girls’ bathroom when I overheard MacKenzie bragging to her friends that she was practically 99.9% sure she and Brandon were going to the Halloween dance together as
ROMEO AND JULIET!
I was VERY disappointed, but not the least bit surprised.
I mean, WHY would Brandon ask a total DORK like ME when he could go with a CCP (Cute, Cool & Popular) girl like MacKenzie?
And get this! As they were leaving, MacKenzie giggled and said she was buying a new lip gloss JUST for Brandon.
I knew what THAT meant!
I was SO frustrated and angry at myself.
I waited until the bathroom was empty, and then I had a really good SCREAM.
Which, for some strange reason, always makes me feel A LOT better !
Middle school can be very TRAUMATIZING, that’s for sure!!
But the most important thing to remember is this.…
Always remain CALM and try to handle your PERSONAL problems in a PRIVATE and MATURE manner.
STUDENTS REACT TO A PRIVATE SCREAM-FEST!
IF ANYONE OVERHEARS YOUR PRIVATE SCREAM-FEST, YOUR REPUTATION WILL BE PERMANENTLY RUINED AND YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY TRANSFER TO A NEW SCHOOL!
!
About the Author
Copyright Suna Lee
Rachel Renée Russell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dork Diaries, an international blockbuster series chronicling the life and misadventures of middle school students, Nikki Maxwell and her best friends Chloe and Zoey. With humor and wit, Rachel’s books encourage tweens to embrace their individuality and always let their inner dork shine through. The Dork Diaries series has been translated into fifty-two languages worldwide and its characters are as diverse as the millions of tweens who read the books. With more than fifty-five million books in print, the series has garnered such honors as two Kids’ Book Choice Awards, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children, the Milner Award for Children’s Literature, and a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Book of the Year nomination. Rachel is also the author of a second New York Times bestselling series, The Misadventures of Max Crumbly, which received a Kids’ Book Choice Award. Her daughter, Nikki Russell, is the illustrator for both book series. The mother-daughter team has released twenty-one consecutive New York Times bestsellers.
About the Illustrator
Copyright Suna Lee
Rachel Renée Russell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dork Diaries, an international blockbuster series chronicling the life and misadventures of middle school students, Nikki Maxwell and her best friends Chloe and Zoey. With humor and wit, Rachel’s books encourage tweens to embrace their individuality and always let their inner dork shine through. The Dork Diaries series has been translated into fifty-two languages worldwide and its characters are as diverse as the millions of tweens who read the books. With more than fifty-five million books in print, the series has garnered such honors as two Kids’ Book Choice Awards, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children, the Milner Award for Children’s Literature, and a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Book of the Year nomination. Rachel is also the author of a second New York Times bestselling series, The Misadventures of Max Crumbly, which received a Kids’ Book Choice Award. Her daughter, Nikki Russell, is the illustrator for both book series. The mother-daughter team has released twenty-one consecutive New York Times bestsellers.
Product Details
- Publisher: Aladdin (November 10, 2026)
- Length: 328 pages
- ISBN13: 9781665990837
- Grades: 4 - 8
- Ages: 9 - 13
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