Nikki Maxwell keeps a diary full of doodles, complaints and social disasters, and this instalment hands her a rival's secrets.
The series runs on middle-school politics: friendships tested, crushes mishandled and a school hierarchy Nikki never asked to join. Rachel Renee Russell tells it as a dated journal thick with sketches, speech bubbles and hand-lettered asides, so the pages look closer to a scrapbook than a novel. At 352 pages it gives more reading than its layout suggests, while staying light enough for a child working up to longer books.
Inside this volume:
• Diary entries illustrated with cartoon sketches and doodles
• A school-rivalry storyline centred on secrets and reputation
• 352 pages, paperback, from Simon and Schuster Children's Books
• Recommended for readers around eight to twelve years
Aimed at young readers who enjoy funny school stories told in diary form, sold at Boipoka.