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Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen, also known as Drama Queen, is the 9th book in the Dork Diaries series. It was released on June 2, 2015.


Summary[]

Nikki Maxwell’s worst nightmare comes true! Sassy spoiled wannabe MacKenzie Hollister has gotten her hands on Nikki’s diary and has decided to share some thoughts of her own!

Plot[]

Wednesday, April 2[]

Still disoriented from the events that took place yesterday, Nikki is worried about a rumor about her that the CCPs are spreading. The kiss Brandon gave Nikki was on a dare to score free pizza at Queasy Cheesy. Nikki doesn't believe it one bit since she thinks Queasy Cheesy pizza tastes are terrible. She is really hoping MacKenzie will butt out from this. Speaking of MacKenzie, due to her detention of cleaning the showers in the girls' locker room, she has a bug in her hair. Nikki tells her about it and MacKenzie freaks out. Nikki manages to get it out, but MacKenzie feels nauseous from the very fact it was in there. She rushes to the wastebasket to throw up and fails to get there in time, puking allover the floor. One girl has taped it on her phone. MacKenzie goes home for the rest of the day after that incident. Not that Nikki feels bad for her.

Thursday, April 3

Nikki tries to ignore MacKenzie's taunting, but she can only take so much and reminds her of the bruise she gave her with that dodgeball in gym two days ago. As MacKenzie goes to get some bandages to take care of it, Brandon comes by to talk to Nikki about something. But Nikki, still sour from MacKenzie's taunting, doesn't even look, assumes MacKenzie's back, and tells Brandon to leave her alone and stop making her miserable. She turns around and realizes who she just said it to. Brandon, hurt from what she had said, walks away. She tries to explain what happened, but it's no use. Now she thinks Brandon doesn't like her anymore.

Friday, April 4

Today is a half-day at school, and Nikki is still feeling terrible about what she said to Brandon that she meant to say to MacKenzie. At home, Brianna shows Nikki her class's pet goldfish, Rover. She's taking care of it this weekend. Brianna plays around with the bowl and Nikki tells her to be more responsible by wording it in how her own mother takes care of her. Brianna takes this advice literally and gives Rover a bath. Now, the fish is dead from exposure to hot water and suds. But Brianna thinks he's just sleeping.

Saturday, April 5

Nikki tells her mom what Brianna did yesterday and she decides that they need to get to the Pets-N-Stuff before it closes. They hurry over and arrive five minutes before closing, but it's closing up early. Mrs. Maxwell demands the clerk, called Tom, to open the door, or she'll tell the CEO of Pets-N-Stuff about his lack of service. The clerk lets them in and they manage to get a goldfish that looks like Rover so they can replace the one Brianna killed. Nikki also notices a poster for a contest to win a year's supply of dog food. If she wins, she could give it to Fuzzy Friends. Just then, she notices someone coming out of the Queasy Cheesy next door and finds out, to her horror, it's Brandon, making her think the rumor might be true. While the fish is replaced, Nikki feels she can no longer trust Brandon for that false kiss.

Sunday, April 6

Brianna, none the wiser, is happy to see Rover and feeds him breakfast, which is some Princess Sugar Plum cereal rather than fish food. Mrs. Maxwell gets a call from Brianna's teacher, and it turns out that the goldfish Brianna killed wasn't the first one. The fish had to be replaced multiple times. Brianna is not ready for keeping a pet goldfish. She is also saving up for a mermaid. Later, Nikki talks to Chloe and Zoey about the Brandon situation.

Monday, April 7

In gym, Nikki and her friends practice Tennis swings by hitting balls against the wall. This gives Nikki a chance to let out a lot of steam about Brandon. As her friends worry about how she's taking it, Zoey gets an idea and suggests they call Queasy Cheesy and pretend to be Brandon to get the details from his receipt. That way, they'll know if he paid for it with cash or some other method. If it's cash, it was all a misunderstanding. If it was something else, the rumor is true. Nikki is reluctant to do it, but her friends decide to guilt her into doing it by saying she doesn't have to find out if she doesn't want to. She agrees to do it after getting annoyed with their tactic and they'll need to do it in the library to avoid attention. They'll also need passes at the time so they can seem like they're doing their LSA duties. It's dangerous, but Nikki has to know.

Tuesday, April 8

During lunch, Nikki realizes she forgot to pick up their LSA passes, so they can't leave the cafeteria, especially with Principal Winston watching. As soon as he leaves, the three of them sneak out of the cafeteria and head to the library. Chloe decides to pretend to be Brandon during the call. When she calls the restaurant, she needs help from Nikki figuring out what to say. Nikki tries to explain to her as best as she can, and Chloe actually repeats Nikki's words verbatim, including parts that were from her POV instead of Brandon's. Thankfully, the cashier believes it and sends a copy of the receipt. Zoey receives and it shows it to Nikki. Unfortunately, the receipt shows that Brandon paid with a gift card, not cash. That means the rumor was true after all.

Wednesday, April 9

Nikki has a meeting with Mr. Zimmerman about her Miss Know-It-All column. Zimmerman is not feeling that well as he has a bit of a headache. He tells Nikki that due to her column's popularity and the big work she has in writing all of her response letters to the people sending in their questions, he had the computer club set up a website so people can ask online. It will help her out. He gives her her username and password, which is really his to-do list, which he doesn't realize. She can't afford to lose it. She sets up her username "1Buymilk" and her password "2Yogaclassat7pm" and is ready.

Thursday, April 10

As Nikki arrives early to work on her column, she finds someone laughing at a video he's watching on his phone. Some other people are watching it with him. It turns out the video is of MacKenzie freaking out over the bug that was in her hair. Nikki is amused by it and thinks MacKenzie will know what it's like ever since she uploaded that video of Nikki and Brianna dancing at Queasy Cheesy. Of course, it's not on the internet.

Friday, April 11

Something is wrong. The handwriting is different. The entry starts with "Dear Nikki". It's as if someone else is writing in Nikki's diary. And it turns out it's true. It's MacKenzie.

MacKenzie writes in Nikki's diary and says she lost a very precious item that she now has. Her day started with yoga, breakfast and choosing which outfit to wear. She also taunts over how she doesn't have to worry about Max the Roach on her limo and tells of the things she would do rather than drive with him on top. MacKenzie then reveals she got her hands on Nikki's diary and is going to read it.

Saturday, April 12

MacKenzie is looking through the diary and learns of some of Nikki's history. She doesn't get why she writes in it. She just talks to her parents or her therapist Dr. Hadley. She belittles Nikki for not being as cool as her and having to settle with other dorks and has lost Brandon. She explains that she didn't steal the diary. She noticed Nikki had left her locker open by accident with her sweater's sleeve jutting out and blocking the door. After commenting on how hideous she thought it was, she reached in and grabbed the diary, stating that she was taking it off her hands and keeping it safe so no one would read it. She says she was gonna give it back, but she didn't have the time. So, now, she's going to write in it and show her side of things. Welcome to MacKenzie's world.

Sunday, April 13

After shopping at the mall for some new blouses, MacKenzie decides to give the diary a cover over the one it initially has. She chooses it based on the blouse she wanted to wear to school tomorrow, which is leopard-print. Now she is completely safe with it in disguise. As soon as it's finished, she begins looking in the diary and finds the first nine days of April and discovers a lot of other things Nikki wrote in it throughout the series. But she doesn't think she tortured Nikki whatsoever. She feels she's the victim instead of the instigator.

Monday, April 14

MacKenzie arrives at school dressed all fab and stylish in her new blouse to match "her" diary. She finds Nikki and her friends frantically looking for it, having no idea where it could be when it's really right under their noses. MacKenzie offers to help out, but they don't want her to, fearing they know what she might do. They try to say it's nothing important or secretive and just want her to mind her own business. She complies and mentions Nikki's diary, sending a chill down their spines. MacKenzie starts to enjoy writing in a diary.

Tuesday, April 15

MacKenzie is getting ready to have lunch with the other CCPs when she discovers that they're watching the video of her freaking out. Even Jessica. For that, she composes a list of 10 reasons why she hates Nikki (in her own POV).

1. Cheating to win the avant-garde art competition

2. Rigging the chocolate fountain at her birthday party

3. Getting the record deal with Trevor Chase even though she lost the talent show

4. Winning Holiday on Ice in spite of her inability to skate

5. TP-ing her house

6. Tricking her into digging through a dumpster in search of a non-existent present from Brandon and making her ruin her dress

7. Kissing Brandon

8. Faking her dodgeball injury to get her in trouble

9. Putting the bug in her hair

10. Showing everyone the video and thus ruining her reputation as the most popular kid at WCD

Due to all of those past events, MacKenzie thinks Nikki is out to ruin her life. For that, she decides that if Nikki won't get expelled, she'll transfer to a new school instead.

Wednesday, April 16

Thanks to the video, MacKenzie has become a laughingstock. She finds out that Nikki and her friends stayed behind instead of going to National Library Week in NYC and gave the invites to Marcy, Jenny and Violet instead so they can keep looking for the diary. To really get at them, she tells them that she saw a book that might be the diary in the library. Unfortunately, the books are stacked in many piles, making it hard if not impossible to find it. MacKenzie remembers how Nikki won the avant-garde art competition, still assuming that Nikki cheated to win. She believes her fashion designs were true art and Nikki's tattoos were pathetic. She has also taken notice that she and Brandon haven't spoken to each other in a while, much to her delight.

Thursday, April 17

MacKenzie finds a new school called North Hampton Hills International Academy. She plans to transfer there, but first she has to convince her parents. She plans to befriend everyone there and invite them to her next birthday party. She still recalls what happened that night. She thinks Nikki clogged the fountain to make it erupt and spew chocolate all over her, all while denying that Jessica smacked the plate out of her hands and the fruit landed in there, which caused it to erupt. While ranting about that, she notices a little something extra in her diary, which turns out to be her username and password for the Miss Know-It-All website. This gives her the opportunity to use it and do a little answering of her own.

Friday, April 18

Now that MacKenzie has hacked into the Miss Know-It-All website, she plans to give bad and hurtful answers to the people who sent in their questions. The first one comes from someone named Cheerless Cheerleader, who is having trouble with the other cheerleaders. They don't seem to respect her that much and always put her at the bottom of the pyramid formation, which hurts her back. She doesn't know whether to keep trying or quit. MacKenzie sends her response saying that she didn't get onto the squad with her skills. They just needed someone strong enough to keep the pyramid aligned. They thought her routines were terrible, but they kept her anyway. She gets another one from someone who she might recognize.

Dear Miss Know-it-all,

I have a good friend, and she's smart, funny and kind

But lately we haven't been getting along and it's all MY fault. Between a nasty rumor at school and me not telling much about my personal life, she doesn't trust me. And I don't blame her one bit. Whenever I try to talk to her in class, she seems down and kind of distracted, like something is really bothering her. I'm starting to worry about her, and I really miss our friendship.

What can I do to fix things?

-Massively Cruddy Friend

Believing the question is from Brandon, MacKenzie decides to be a little nicer with this one.

Dear Massively Cruddy Friend,

It sounds like you really messed up big-time, bro!

By the way she's acting, it might be too late to rescue this relationship. It looks to me like she wants you about as much as she wants a week-old bowl of moldy oatmeal.

You need to let her know that you care about her ASAP! But NOT with a quick and impersonal e-mail or text.

Since she obviously doesn't feel comfortable talking to you, don't push her. I suggest you write a sincere apology letter and tape it to her locker right before class so that you can see her reaction. Also, make sure you ask her to meet you after school someplace classy so you can talk. :Hint: Most girls LOVE the CupCakery!

If she shows up, she truly cares about you, and you can consider yourself lucky that you have a very special friendship. Awwwww!!!

However, if your friend doesn't show up, it means she's still pretty ticked off at you and possibly never really cared to being with. If that happens, my advice is to just get over her and move on!

Because, dude, there are plenty of fish in the sea! Including ME!

Sincerely,
Miss Know-It-All

Now MacKenzie just needs to wait. She's jealous about the letter being for Nikki and still remembers how Nikki's band got a record deal for performing so well in the talent show that they got a record deal, even though MacKenzie's act, Mac's Maniacs, was the winning act. She believes she manipulated Trevor Chase into giving her band that deal. But she will get her revenge with this little act of hers. And every other following entry will feature her personal favorite mean letter she sends. She also states that Nikki will get a little surprise on Monday, April 28, that she will be expelled for cyberbullying.

Saturday, April 19

MacKenzie finds out that Massively Cruddy Friend took her advice and put a letter on Nikki's locker. Enraged over Brandon liking Nikki and actually kissing her, she tells Nikki what she thinks is the truth as to why Brandon did it and says that she plans to marry Brandon one day and have her attend so she can clean up all of the poop that the doves they release will drop as revenge for the three days of shower cleaning she endured. She tried to spray all of the mildew in hopes that the Scrubbing Bubbles mascot would come and do it for her, just like in the commercials, which never happened. For that, MacKenzie steals the letter and reads it. Brandon still seems hopeful in talking to Nikki. But that doesn't seem to go anywhere as Nikki doesn't show up to the CupCakery to talk about what's been going on. All because MacKenzie took the letter.

Today's Miss Know-It-All mean letter comes from Geek Girl, asking if it's possible for a popular boy to fall for a nerdy girl. They actually do share some interests, but when they're around his friends, he pretends she doesn't exist. They even go to the library to study. She wants to know if she has a chance with him, or if there's no hope. MacKenzie responds by saying that there's no hope. Popular kids and geeks can't co-exist and she was wrong to believe that it could work between them.

Sunday, April 20

MacKenzie's father Marshall will be returning from his business trip tomorrow, so she can talk to her parents about the transfer. She is going shopping for her new outfit, which she hopes is not too pricey given how much she has left on her clothes allowance. She gets an extra hundred for taking her little sister, Amanda with her. When they arrive, Amanda starts to get upset when she is told she can't get a new purse. To keep her busy, MacKenzie takes her to Kandy Kingdom so she can play and not worry. Before she can find the outfit she needs, she finds all sorts of stylish summer wears and tries on everything. She doesn't plan on buying any of them outside the uniform. Amanda comes by asking for a tissue from her purse by dumping everything out of it. Just then, Amanda runs off. MacKenzie prepares to pay for her uniform, but she finds out that she doesn't have her wallet with her. So, she can't pay for it. She realizes that Amanda took not only a tissue, but her wallet, too. She goes back to Kandy Kingdom and finds Amanda and demands her wallet back. But when she gets it back, there's only a few dollars left. Amanda spent her uniform money on a new purse and something that goes "Yip". Amanda reveals that she got a new puppy for her purse. MacKenzie reminds her of Fifi and they return the purse and puppy to get her money back. Amanda wants a puppy in a purse, so MacKenzie gets her one to keep her happy. Now, she has her outfit and is ready for North Hampton Hills International Academy.

There are two mean letters today. The first one comes from Invisible Girl, who has a crush on a CCP who is friendly toward her, but acts different when he's with his friends. MacKenzie thinks she has no chance and that she is being used by him. He doesn't like her at all.

The other one presumably comes from Jessica, AKA CCP Princess. She asks if she should choose still being friends with the girl who used to be the most popular in all the school or seek ultimate popularity and take the throne from here on out. MacKenzie, feeling betrayed, rants about all the things "her friend" had done for her and that it would be an idiotic idea. She states that "her friend" will always be number one no matter what and she is delusional in thinking otherwise.

Monday, April 21

MacKenzie decides to confront Jessica for watching the video and laughing at her, as well as plotting to take her spot as the leader of the CCPs. Jessica acts like she doesn't know, and the two of them end their friendship. MacKenzie then notices that Brandon and Nikki are still not talking to each other and decides to put the letter back on Nikki's locker. Nikki finds and reads the letter. It says...

Hi Nikki,

It's Brandon. Before you ball up this note and toss it away, please read it to the end.

I'm still not sure what happened exactly, but I've been really bummed since we quit hanging out. Biology isn't the same without us goofing off during class and you laughing at my lame jokes. I miss washing dogs with you, even though we end up getting more dog shampoo on ourselves than on them. And the dogs miss you too!

Was it because of that...um, well, what we did at the kissing booth, at the end of the party? And the rumor that came out afterward? I'm sorry I made you feel bad. I definitely wish I hadn't done anything to mess up our friendship.

You said something about how you don't even know me. So what if we meet at the CupCakery after school today and grab some red velvet cupcakes- my treat! I'll tell you anything you want to know about me (and not worry that you'll think I'm weird) I've learned that honesty and trust are vital in a true friendship.

If you decide NOT to hang out today, I totally understand. I guess that will mean I don't really deserve your friendship. But it would me happy if you please give me another chance.

Your Fuzzy Friend

Brandon

Feeling this is the chance to talk to him and make up, she decides to go to the CupCakery. Unbeknownst to her, it was written to her three days ago and MacKenzie had taken it. So, Brandon didn't show up to the CupCakery to talk to her this time. Meanwhile, MacKenzie talks to her parents about transferring to North Hampton Hills, but they turn it down because the video is just going by on everyone's phones and not being shown on the internet. MacKenzie really wants them to do it anyway, but they insist on waiting it out to see if it doesn't blow over. For that, she straight up says she hates them and decides to take matters into her own hand. She uploads the video online under the guise of being cyberbullied. This is certain to get her to North Hampton Hills.

Today's mean letter comes from a girl named "Blue in Braces", and MacKenzie assumes it's Marcy. Blue in Braces states that she was upset when she found out she needed braces. She is insecure and feels her friends will not like her once she sees them. She needs Miss Know-It-All for advice. MacKenzie starts off by purposefully typing in the wrong name in the form of insults and lists several "pros" and cons of having braces. She ends it by bragging that her teeth was always perfect.

Tuesday, April 22

Today is MacKenzie's final day at WCD as she finally got to convince her parents to transfer her to NHH after showing them the video. Her parents are placing the transfer as she gathers her things to get out of her locker and pack up. She believes she'll get along so well with the students there. She also states that she plans on keeping her diary since she had gotten addicted to it, and there will be a little surprise for Nikki on Monday that will get her expelled for cyberbullying. She is off to NHH and leaves a farewell note on her old locker to Nikki.

Since this was her final day, there are no more new mean letters from her Miss Know-It-All ploy. She "resigns" and awaits the responses from "Nikki's" advice.

Wednesday, April 23

MacKenzie accidentally drops Nikki's diary, and Nikki gets it back.

Thursday, April 24

Nikki is elated to finally have her diary back after the near two weeks she went through without it. Zoey thought she was responsible after looking through her backpack for some gum, but Nikki assured her it wasn't. Nikki saw the cover that MacKenzie gave it and accused her of stealing it, even though she had no proof. She reads every entry she put in it and is shocked to think that she would want to ruin her life. She also finds out about how she hacked into her Miss Know-It-All account and wrote those harsh and cruel responses to the people asking her and plans to get her expelled on Monday for cyberbullying. The column doesn't auto-publish until then, so she can still undo the damage she inflicted before it's permanent. At the very least, she is jubilant to hear that MacKenzie transferred to a new school, meaning she'll never have to put up with her dramatic torture ever again. She also discovers how she stole Brandon's letter and sabotaged their chances to make up. Not only that, but Chloe wasn't in school today or yesterday for some reason. Nikki plans to figure out what's going on.

Friday, April 25

Nikki and Zoey try to contact Chloe, but she's not responding. When she finally returns to school, they try to get her attention, but she just ignores them. They don't know why she is acting like this, but they want to find out what's wrong with her and save their friendship.

Saturday, April 26

Nikki, Zoey and Chloe are in the library, doing their LSA duties, when Nikki and Zoey plan to talk to Chloe. They decide to play charades and hope that Chloe will give them the answer through this. She doesn't want to play and just storms off after giving Nikki a cold stare. This really worries Zoey and Nikki, making them think Chloe despises them now.

Sunday, April 27

During lunch, Nikki accidentally tosses her discarded lunch remains onto Brandon. This gives her a chance to figure out just what was going on with him. She cleans him ask and wants to clear everything that happened. She didn't mean to hurt his feelings and say all those nasty things. She thought MacKenzie came by to annoy her some more that day and didn't know she said those words to him. She even tells him that she ruined his apology and meeting at the CupCakery. However, Brandon doesn't believe her and walks off, thinking she doesn't know him. As the lunch bell rings, it's time to go to bio next. Nikki thinks she could talk to him on the way there to get things straight, but it's too late. He already left.

Monday, April 28

Nikki arrives early to find out what MacKenzie's surprise is and looks over the letters she wrote in her Miss Know-It-All column. She has emailed three students already: Brandon, Jessica, and presumably Marcy. Marcy arrives and thanks Nikki for letting her, Violet and Jenny go to NYC for Library Week in their place. Nikki apologizes for the response to her question and how much it hurt her feelings. But Marcy doesn't know what she's talking about and says she'll be getting her braces removed in three months. So, Blue in Braces wasn't Marcy after all. Meanwhile, Chloe is still not speaking to Zoey and Nikki, so they leave her a note and ask her to meet up with them in the janitor's closet. While it seems like she wasn't gonna show up at first, she eventually does and is ready to talk. She has some bad news to tell them. She points to her lips and they don't know what it is. She shows her teeth and reveals she got braces. That's why she wasn't at school the past couple of days. Even with her new braces, Zoey and Nikki are happy nonetheless and assure her that she's fine the way she is. They're just relieved their friendship was saved...for the most part. She told Nikki that she wanted her to tell her how she felt about it by sending a Miss Know-It-All letter as Blue in Braces, and when she got the response, she felt hurt and figured Zoey and Nikki would stop being her friends. Nikki tries to explain that she wasn't the one who sent the response. She decides to explain how she found her diary and MacKenzie was reading and writing in it. And she can't prove a thing unless she shows Mr. Zimmerman and Principal Winston the diary entries she wrote in there, but Nikki is reluctant to do that as she has written much of their adventures and antics in her diary. So, that would possibly get them expelled. After what MacKenzie did, she changed the password so she can't hack into her account anymore. But she forgot to check the auto-publish file and realizes that MacKenzie scheduled her letters to auto-publish at the same time as Nikki's. That was the surprise she told her about. They only have five minutes to get online to the website and remove MacKenzie's letters from the file before it's too late.

Tuesday, April 29

Continuing where she left off, Nikki and her friends log onto the website and hurry to stop MacKenzie's letters from publishing. Chloe and Zoey read details and Nikki searches for them and deletes them. Time is running out with just seconds left and only a couple of letters remaining. Soon enough, time is up and the letters are submitted. Thankfully, only Nikki's letters are submitted as she managed to delete all of MacKenzie's just in time. As they celebrate their success, Brandon comes in with a bit of a surprise. He has copies of MacKenzie's old 6th grade photo, revealing that she used to wear braces back then. So, she only made Chloe feel insecure about her braces because she wanted her to suffer like she did. After a good laugh at MacKenzie's photo, Brandon wants to talk to Nikki. They patch up everything that had been going on between them and nearly splitting them up. So, after that, Brandon tells Nikki that he wants to ask a girl to hang out with him on Wednesday, and that girl happens to be her. She accepts his invite and their friendship is back to normal. And with MacKenzie gone, things are sure to be looking up.

Wednesday, April 30

Nikki philosophically talks about how she felt when she lost her diary and wishes she could tell MacKenzie to get her own, as it can help one out when they can't do or say something in public. And she gives MacKenzie one last little taunt about how she's proud to be a dork.

Brandon and Nikki are having a nice time at the CupCakery with Chloe and Zoey watching from the table next to theirs. However, MacKenzie is also watching Nikki and Brandon from afar. Even though MacKenzie does not attend WCD anymore, she wants Nikki to know that this is not the end.

Main characters[]

Minor characters[]

Trivia[]

  • The title of the book is inspired by Mackenzie Hollister.
  • Near the end of the book, Chloe gets braces. This makes her the second character to be displayed as having braces, after Marcy.
  • Nikki and Brandon argue, thanks to MacKenzie's scheme.
  • MacKenzie steals Nikki's Diary and writes in it for twelve days.
  • All of MacKenzie's entries in Nikki's diary start with "Dear Nikki" and end with "TOODLES!" followed by her signing her name and drawing a heart around it.
  • This is the last book until the end of book eleven where MacKenzie goes to WCD. Near the end, she transfers to another school.
  • Brandon writes an apology letter, but it was stolen by Mackenzie. However, Nikki gets the letter back three days later, but she doesn't know that it was too late
  • This is the first time anyone other than Nikki writes in their perspective, and the first time a different font is used.
  • It is the only Dork Diaries Book, in whose back cover there is no comic strip.
  • The first release of this book was included with posters that you could take out and hang on your wall, at least two different posters are known to exist.

Images[]

Editions[]

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