Dork Diaries 6 – Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker

Rachel Renee Russell's Tales From a Not So Happy Heartbreaker is a laugh-out-loud Dork Diaries story for 10 year olds about a girl with a VERY bad case of crush-itis.

What happens

Nikki's crush Brandon asks her out to Crazy Burger. Then he doesn't call, doesn't email and doesn't text all weekend. When a message finally arrives, he's cancelling.

Meanwhile her little sister Brianna has opened a pretend hair salon in her bedroom. Miss Bri-Bri, Fashionista Hairstylist to the Stars, chops off one of Nikki's plaits and then sends the photo to Nikki's best friends. Could a weekend get any worse?

Back at school, every girl is queuing for tickets to the Sweetheart Dance, and this year the girls ask the boys. Then MacKenzie, Nikki's arch-enemy, announces she's already asked Brandon.

As it's literally Nikki's diary, you get every up and down straight from her. She's playing air guitar round her bedroom one minute and sure nobody could ever like her the next. Anyone who's ever read a text five times looking for clues will know exactly how she feels.

The disasters are brilliant. A floating test in swimming ends with Nikki wedged into Brianna's old sea horse float until the caretaker has to cut her out. (Not her finest hour.)

She also plans a big surprise for her friends Chloe and Zoey. The dance tickets have sold out by the time she gets there, so she hands them a used packet of tissues and a lip gloss from her locker instead. Then feels awful about it, of course.

This one comes later in the series and picks up threads from earlier books, like Nikki's band and her advice column. It still works on its own, but the friendships mean more if you've met everyone before.

It's all crushes, dances and school drama, with MacKenzie being properly mean. The humour is big and silly, with plenty of CAPITALS and screaming. Brianna steals every scene she's in.

For a reader who's starting to care about who likes who, and who laughs at their own worst moments, it's great fun.

What to read next

If they'd like to see how it all started, with Nikki's first days at a new school and a mum who gives her a diary instead of a phone, try the very first Dork Diaries book.