To be fair, the target audience for this book (according to Amazon) is meant to be 4th through 8th graders, yet I am reading it with an eye towards 2nd graders. I volunteer in the school library during Isabelle's 2nd grade library class, and this book is very popular among her classmates. Isabelle picked it up on her own, and I felt compelled to read it, too.
Isabelle actually read these books out of order, first reading Books #4 and #5, then #1, giving them all a 4-star rating. I have only read Book #1. If she continues with the series, I think I will, too. Just as when she was reading Ivy + Bean, I don't want to quash her enthusiasm for reading by forbidding a book that many peers are reading; but at the same time, at least in this book, there were lots of opportunities for "You know this is just a story, and you shouldn't do that in real life, right?" type discussions.
Basically, this book is the diary of a girl, Nikki, who is starting her 8th grade year in a new private school. She doesn't have any friends yet. (Isabelle says Books 4 and 5 are better because she has friends). The book definitely conveys the drama of a middle school girl's thoughts.
What I didn't like about the book is how much of it revolves around mean girl behavior. Not just the popular girl MacKenzie being mean to Nikki, but Nikki and her new friends being unkind towards MacKenzie as well. There is one occurrence of the word "skank", which I don't find appropriate for elementary school audiences. And now that I think of it, I'm not crazy about it for middle school audiences, either.
I also didn't like how obsessed Nikki was about appearances, how she cared so much about having the "right" clothes and an expensive phone. She disliked MacKenzie, but at the same time, she admired and fawned over her good looks and hip fashion sense. Maybe these are themes that are common for middle school girls, but I'd rather have my daughter read about strong female characters who are comfortable in their own skin, not afraid to be themselves.
Mostly, I disliked the way Nikki blamed her troubles on someone else. When she was too intimidated to sign up for an art competition, she actually managed to blame MacKenzie. I actually hate the idea of a book reinforcing the idea that it's okay to blame someone else for your own troubles. I would much rather have preferred Nikki to realize, at some point, that her self-consciousness and low self-esteem came from within.
Moreover, in one anecdote, Nikki makes light of cheating. In another, she lies to her parents and gets away with it. Oh, well.
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