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Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All (also known as Dear Dork) is the 5th book in the Dork Diaries series. It was released worldwide on October 2, 2012

Nikki Maxwell develops a sudden interest in student journalism that may or may not have to do with the fact that mean girl MacKenzie has started writing a gossip column and there just might be some info involving Brandon, that Nikki doesn’t want Mackenzie reporting to the world. So Nikki joins the school newspaper staff and ends up as an advice columnist! It’s fun at first, answering other kids’ letters. But when Miss Know-It-All’s inbox is suddenly overflowing with pleas for guidance, Nikki feels in need of some help herself. But she has BFFs Chloe and Zoey on her side - and at her keyboard!

Synopsis[]

Wednesday, January 1

Nikki, Zoey and Chloe are all celebrating New Year's Eve at Zoey's House. As they count down into the new year, they have a lot of eating snacks and playing Truth or Dare. Since no one had taken a dare yet, Nikki decides to take the first one. Zoey comes up with a dare so sneaky and dangerous, it scares Nikki. Zoey dares her to go to MacKenzie's house and TP it. Nikki turns down the dare in fear of getting caught. But, remembering all of the rotten, low-down, evil things MacKenzie did to her, but at the same time, she is scared.

Thursday, January 2p

Continuing where she left off, Nikki feels a bit nervous about TP-ing MacKenzie's house. She figures about all the other fun they could be having, but she is determined to get back at Miss Thang. Zoey and Nikki put on their coats while Chloe disguises herself as a bunny. They head on over to MacKenzie's mansion, which is really close to Zoey's house, and start TP-ing her front yard. Suddenly, MacKenzie pops out to let her poodle Fifi do her business. The girls hide and...before Nikki can continue, she finds out from her mom that they're going to take Brianna to see the new Princess Sugar Plum movie tomorrow and have dinner at Queasy Cheesy afterward (with Nikki remembering when MacKenzie uploaded that video of her and Brianna singing the I Luv Queasy Cheesy song).

To Be Continued...

Friday, January 3

Resuming from her previous entry, Fifi sniffs the bush that the girls are hiding in and barks at them. MacKenzie spots the girls and wonders what they're doing at her house. When they decide to come clean and confess to their prank, MacKenzie stops them and thinks some boy did it to get her attention and concludes that it was from Brandon. The others not only think that's stupid, but are relieved that she would not believe that they did it.

Saturday, January 4

Nikki finally gets an invitation to Brandon's birthday party on the 31st and thinks about the possibility of them having a romantic Italian dinner. After that, she and Brianna try a new burger joint called Crazy Burger.

Sunday, January 5

Trevor Chase, the produce of the TV show 15 Minutes of Fame calls Nikki and invites her and her band "Actually, I'm Not Really Sure Yet" to meet him to record their song "Dorks Rule" on February 8th. Nikki accepts.

Monday, January 6

School is back in session after winter break, and Nikki is worried about MacKenzie possibly ratting her and her friends out for the TP incident. Instead, MacKenzie is going around stating that Brandon TP'd her house as a sign of love, which the other CCP girls believe.

Tuesday, January 7

Mr. Maxwell, dressed up and cleaned up, is going to Hollister Holdings, Inc. to talk about a business plan, much to Nikki's terror. She begs him not to go to the meeting, but he doesn't buy it and leaves. Now Nikki is scared of what will happen.

Wednesday, January 8

Nikki's dad has been temporarily assigned to work for Hollister Holdings. Nikki thinks it's good that it's only for a little while, but at the same time, she fears her dad will accept full-time work there, meaning she'll have to leave WCD since she attends it under a scholarship from her dad's bug extermination business.

Thursday, January 9

Nikki goes to the office to get a student handbook; the only problem is that Jessica, MacKenzie's BFF, is the student assistant. After a failed attempt to get Jessica to give her one, Nikki is thrown one to her by MacKenzie. She reads Page 128 of the handbook and it says that pranking is punishable with after-school detention and property damage is punishable by suspension. MacKenzie claims Brandon egged her house along with the TP-ing, but that's not true. She's willing to forgive and forget if he invites her and Jessica to his party. If they don't get invited, MacKenzie will write about the incident in her next entry on her fashion and current events column in the school paper. Nikki needs to find a way to stop her.

Friday, January 10

Nikki ponders on how to stop MacKenzie from either getting Brandon to invite her to the party or get him suspended. She decides to join the school newspaper and tells Zoey and Chloe about her plan. They suggest that she ask Brandon for a position. Now, Nikki is ready to join up and stop MacKenzie.

Saturday, January 11

Nikki is looking forward to Monday so she can join the school paper. While having breakfast, she remembers the time she wrote her recipe for Crispy Squares in the second grade and finds that the recipe has been in the family for many generations. To her surprise, the company that makes the cereal she is eating for breakfast shows a recipe of their own like hers on the back of the box, making her think they stole the recipe.

Sunday, January 12

Tired of the snow in Winter, Nikki decides to build a snowman's beach paradise with Brianna.

Monday, January 13

Today is the day that Nikki attempts to join the school paper. She looks the part, but she'll need more than that. She arrives at the office and asks Brandon for a position. He suggests that she be the photo layout artist. She accepts and the two have a flirty and awkward moment. Now Nikki is in.

Tuesday, January 14

During geometry class, Nikki is not very happy. At the meeting, she meets an intern named Lauren from the high school and her boss, Mr. Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman is shown to be a lunatic while spatting weird things and eating PEZ candies. He takes his job seriously and acts professional, while having his awkward moments. The students sign up on the sheet for what position they want. A girl named Marcy gets paired up with MacKenzie as her assistant fashion editor. When Nikki hopes for her name to be announced as the photo layout artist, to her shock, a CCP named Britney Chung gets picked instead. Now, all seems lost, and she finds out that she's gonna be taking a pop quiz.

Wednesday, January 15

During the meeting, Nikki tries to tell Mr. Zimmerman that he forgot to assign her something, but doesn't get his attention. Brandon tells her that he should have warned her about him. She goes to talk to Zimmerman about her assignment, but instead states she has to go to the bathroom. She stumbles upon the wastebasket and finds on the sign-up sheet that her name was crossed off of the line where she signed up for Photo Layout Artist and assumed that MacKenzie was responsible for that. Nikki tries and fails to get Zimmerman to listen to her due to him getting a call. MacKenzie is delighted to see how miserable Nikki is as usual. Nikki's plans start to fall apart.

Thursday, January 16

Nikki tells Zoey and Chloe what happened at the meeting and they order her to go back in there and talk to Zimmerman again. He informs her that all the positions has been filled, but also reveals that there is an old advice column he could assign her to. She is skeptical at first until he suggests that she use a pseudonym to hide her identity while giving people advice on their problems. That way, they won't know it's her. It's the perfect idea, and she accepts. Now all she needs is the right pseudonym.

Friday, January 17

Today is Nikki's official first day as the new advice columnist, Miss Know-It-All (the pseudonym she came up with). All the students will send their problem in a special mailbox outside the office. Unfortunately, when she and Lauren check it, it's full of trash. With no letters to answer, Nikki feels her job will already be over before it starts. Chloe and Zoey come to help her out by making a poster and a new mailbox. This catches other students' eyes. It's only a matter of time before Nikki finds out if she gets any letters.

Saturday, January 18

Nikki is helping Brianna sell chocolate bars for her ballet class, albeit reluctantly. She and Brianna go door to door and can't sell one chocolate bar. They come to the house of a chubby man who is on a diet and trying to lose weight, and he turns them down when Brianna unintentionally insults him for his physique. They don't sell a single bar.

Sunday, January 19

Nikki and Brianna try selling candy bars again. First, they come across the house of an old lady who sics their cat, Tater Tot, on them. They run away and come to a bus and sell a bar to the bus driver. They also find that they are on a bus for people going to a weight-loss camp and are in need of some real food. They sell every bar to all the passengers and make enough money for Brianna's class. Perhaps they would make good business partners in the future.

Monday, January 20

Nikki has to practice for a big fitness test in Spring and realizes all the exercises she was assigned to do, she was doing wrong. When she does them the right way, she starts to really ache. And to make matters worse, when she gets home, she finds that her dad is selling his old van and Max the Roach, believing he will accept to work for Hollister Holdings full-time. Thus, her WCD scholarship appears doomed.

Tuesday, January 21

Forlorn, Nikki goes to school still concerned that no one wrote to Miss Know-It-All. To her surprise, she has found six letters with questions, changing her mood from despair to joy. Now, she's in business. The first letter comes from a football jock who has a girlfriend and a secret passion for baking. He thinks that if his girlfriend finds out about his hobby, she'll break up with him. Nikki recognizes the handwriting as Brady Grayson's, recalling how she found that cookbook in one of the boys' lockers when she was looking for her diary. She tells him that he should tell her the truth and show it in a very romantic way. The second letter is about a math problem, and Nikki responds by saying that the person should get a math tutor for that kind of question. The third letter comes from a girl who struggles with babysitting her little brother. Nikki, sympathizing with her, tells her to just be ready for the terror. The fourth letter asks what's in the cafeteria's meat loaf, and Nikki tries to explain it the best she can. The fifth letter comes from a guy who asks if he should get a deodorant he saw on a commercial to attract girls. Nikki tells him it's a bad idea and he should just be himself. The final letter is from a girl with a crush on a celebrity, as she is his biggest fan, and she does not return the feelings of a boy named Alex. Nikki tells her that it's just a phase she's going through and she should give Alex a try. After that, Nikki finds out she got more letters.

Wednesday, January 22

Miss Know-It-All is booming all over the school, and more letters come in. One of them is from a teacher who is being bullied by another member of the faculty. Nikki suggests to outsmart the bully so he or she will stop. Brady reveals to his girlfriend his passion by filling her locker with cupcakes and roses. This works so well that now, the entire cheerleading squad wants Brady to go out with them, which his girlfriend is not happy about. So, she writes to Miss Know-It-All asking how to stop it. Maybe Miss Know-It-All's advice worked too well. Nikki enlists Zoey and Chloe to help her with more letters.

Thursday, January 23

The next letter comes from a girl who is homesick for Idaho (and is really Marcy). She gets picked on by all the popular girls in school and wants to go back to Idaho. Nikki tells her that she shouldn't give up and she knows how she feels. She just needs to give it more time. Nikki considers inviting Marcy to hang out with her and her friends sometimes.

NOTE: Nikki breaks the fourth wall about her escapades being made into a book series.

Friday, January 24

Nikki gets a shocking letter and believes that Brandon wrote it, stating that he met a girl back in September and feels shy on telling her how she feels. Nikki, feeling a little judgmental about it, suggests that if the girl is nice, he should give her a chance. But if it's a CCP, he should reconsider. Nikki is just too scared to tell Brandon the truth about herself.

Saturday, January 25

Nikki is going shopping for Brandon's birthday gift with $90 saved up. Unfortunately, she has to take Brianna with her. When they and Zoey and Chloe meet, Brianna wants to go to the new Kandy Kingdom and ride the train that will take them there. Nikki, not wanting to put up with her attitude, reluctantly takes her for a ride to the kingdom. The ride is $5 per person, so she's down to $70. But then, Brianna wants to get lunch at Queasy Cheesy. Nikki gives in again and it costs $19, down to $51. They stop by the fashion store and see a lovely pair of boots. Brianna sneaks in and tries on makeup, looking like a makeup smeared mess. They were not free samples, so Nikki has to pay almost the rest of her money. That leaves her with only $3.10, not much money to get Brandon a good gift.

Sunday, January 26

Feeling overworked from answering all the Miss Know-It-All letters she got, Nikki thinks of a form letter to lighten the load a little.

Monday, January 27

Fatigued from her work on her Miss Know-It-All column, Nikki starts to wonder if she can keep going with it. Soon enough, Brianna and Miss Penelope pop up to see what Nikki's doing. After hearing about Nikki's position, Brianna decides to make her own newspaper called the "Some Times". Nikki plays along and reads some of its articles. One of them is about ice cream being served before dinner and the other is about a bear being found in Nikki's room while looking like Nikki. Nikki does not take kindly to Brianna's news story.

Tuesday, January 28

Nikki, Zoey and Chloe become overworked from all the letters they had to answer. After they're done, Mr. Zimmerman calls Nikki to his office to talk to her. Nikki fears that MacKenzie told him about the Great Toilet Paper Caper and she's in trouble, but it turns out Zimmerman wants to give her a reward for how successful Miss Know-It-All had become and how it really increased the paper's readership. Nikki feels so honored. Zimmerman also suggests that they limit the number of letters they answer to a select few a day, which takes a real load off their backs.

Wednesday, January 29

Nikki goes to check to see what letters she got in the Miss Know-It-All mailbox while the hallway was still quiet, but MacKenzie happens to be in the hall and catch her. Nikki denies being Miss Know-It-All when MacKenzie asks her if it's true. Just then, MacKenzie reveals to Nikki that she knew all along that she, Zoey, and Chloe were the ones who TP'd her house and used Brandon as a scapegoat in the hopes that he would invite her to his birthday party. Tomorrow, she has a meeting with Principal Winston about the whole fiasco and plans to get the three of them expelled. That night, Nikki has a series of nightmares.

-Going down in a burning plane
-Being attacked by a shark at the beach
-Being chased by a multi-headed monster
-Arriving at school in her underwear
-MacKenzie telling her that she's been called to the principal's office

The one about MacKenzie was the scariest of them all.

Thursday, January 30

Today is the meeting with Principal Winston, and Nikki is scared of what will happen since she, Zoey and Chloe may get expelled for TP-ing MacKenzie's house. They are sent to the office and await the inevitable. Before the meeting starts, Marcy comes by and says that she found out about a big controversy that happened between the four of them a little while back. Marcy wants to interview MacKenzie to hear her side of the story. The story being the time she locked Nikki and her friends in the storage closet before their Holiday On Ice performance. Horrified at the question, MacKenzie doesn't know how to respond. Principal Winston comes in to see what they wanted to talk about. Since she knows how deep she's in now, MacKenzie changes the topic to needing more apple snacks in the cafeteria. Principal Winston buys it and excuses them. Nikki and her friends are thankful to Marcy for what she did because they're her only real friends. It turns out she found out about the storage closet incident from Brianna's paper, which she handed out to her class, including Marcy's little brother. However, she also reveals that MacKenzie's plan involved getting her dad to get Nikki's dad to transfer to the other side of the state to get rid of Nikki. It was either accept the job and move, or turn it down and lose their home. Chloe and Zoey were saved, but the same can't be said for Nikki.

Friday, January 31

Nikki is still depressed because of her possibly moving. But to her surprise, her dad got his old van with Max the Roach back because he turned down Marshall Hollister's deal so he can expand his business. It's a miracle for Nikki, meaning she can stay at WCD. Unfortunately, the celebration is cut short when her mom tells her that her dad will have to pick her up from Brandon's party tonight. Nikki can't let anyone see her get in and out of the van, so she decides to not go until her mother tells her to write down the address since her father can be forgetful. This gives Nikki an idea. She writes down a false address similar to the one the party will be at. She even convinced Brandon to invite Marcy to the party. The party is at Theo's house, and he got snacks catered from Queasy Cheesy, since his family owns the franchise. He even gets his friends all-you-can-eat vouchers. Soon enough, Mr. Maxwell arrives at the door, asking for directions to the false address Nikki wrote down. He is told that there is no numbered house lower than 720 and asks to use their phone to call Nikki. Nikki uses another phone in the house before her dad got suspicious and manages to convince him to keep going. Before she could spend a little time with Brandon, she decides to leave the party. She tells Marcy to help her out with the Miss Know-It-All column, which she accepts. As soon as she leaves, she rushes over to the van and hops right in. Despite the fun she had, she still can't tell everyone the truth for why she attends WCD. Just then, she gets a text from Brandon asking if she wants to go to lunch at Crazy Burger with the gift certificates she got him. She agrees and he reveals that he wants to ride in her dad's van, thinking it's cool. Seeing how he knew it all this time, she feels a lot calmer now.

New characters[]

Back cover comic strip[]

Comic5

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