What will Nikki choose? A chance to go to Paris or tour with her band as the opening act for a wildly popular boy band? A trip of a lifetime or a tour of a lifetime? Nikki later finds out that she is accepted as a participant into the Arts & Culture Student Trip to Paris, France. Upon seeing how miserable Brandon looks, Nikki feels terrible for putting some of his time on helping her with Daisy and not helping with his Fuzzy Friends project. And to make matters worse, she has been so busy as André's ambassador, she didn't have time for her crush. She writes both Brandon and André letters about what she has to say, asking to meet Brandon at Queasy Cheesy and giving André one of the gift cards. She hopes this works. A new photo is posted and is the one of André's selfie with Nikki, Zoey and Chloe, only Zoey and Chloe are cropped out. Another one shows up a few minutes later of Nikki and André's breakfast, though it looks like they're sharing it instead of eating their own. Fearing what Brandon would say about them if he saw them, Nikki plans to warn him about them so he doesn't get the wrong idea. My daughters grew up on the dramas of the Kardashians and younger sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner so young teens having their own reality TV show and angsting over trips to Paris is all pretty believable.

Dork Diaries 12 by Rachel Renée Russell | Goodreads Dork Diaries 12 by Rachel Renée Russell | Goodreads

Nikki is suffering from Crush-itis due to her crush on Brandon. While she's not looking, Daisy snatches one of her sausages from her breakfast. Nikki chases her all around the house and into the yard, causing a mess. Brandon comes by to see what Nikki is up to before school and sees she is having trouble keeping Daisy under control. He suggests that he help her teach Daisy a think or two about obedience. Nikki agrees and is happy to hear that Brandon is looking forward to hanging out with her. They're sure to get Daisy to behave more properly. Nikki wonders if Brandon has the same case of Crush-itis as her.

Recently Nikki’s had her own reality show and in this book she has the hugest problem! She has to choose between going on a national tour with her band as an opening act or go to Paris, plus two boys have crushes on her. Girl, the plebs that don’t live in your ivory tower wish we had your problems. Nikki accidentally hurts Brandon's feelings again by hanging out too much with André, leaving him thinking that they have feelings for one another.

Dork Diaries by Rachel Renée Russell Dork Diaries by Rachel Renée Russell

In Nikki Maxwell’s newest diary, it’s the countdown to the end of the school year, and Nikki’s juggling some big questions about how she’ll spend her summer. She’s also facing an unexpected crush catastrophe—there’s a new kid interested in Nikki, but the last thing she wants to do is accidentally hurt Brandon! It all comes down to a big decision Nikki has to make, and drama like she’s never faced before!" I’m not sure if it’s just me but it seems like the boys in this series are becoming prettier than the girls. But that’s an aside because I basically adore the sweetness of the illustrations in this series. The drama continues as Nikki tries to figure out how she’s going to spend her summer. Things get even more complicated when she starts to hang out with a cute guy who’s a visiting student. Will this new friendship ruin her relationship with her best friends, Chloe and Zoey, and her crush, Brandon?!"I'm certain that the series is out of my age range, but this one is one of my favorites out of the series. It definitely captures that certain charm about having a crush and deciding between two hot guys [not that I would have any relation because I am still a single pringle]. Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life • Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl • Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star • Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess • Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All • Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker • Tales From a Not-So-Glam TV Star • Tales From a Not-So-Happily Ever After • Tales from a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen • Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter • Tales from a Not-So-Friendly Frenemy • Tales from a Not-So-Secret Crush Catastrophe • Tales from a Not-So-Happy Birthday • Tales from a Not-So-Best Friend Forever • Tales from a Not-So-Posh Paris Adventure Rachel Renee Russell is the #1 New York Times Best Selling author of the book series, DORK DIARIES, and the upcoming, THE MISADVENTURES OF MAX CRUMBLY to be released on June 7, 2016. To be more specific, Nikki is very confusing. She says that she has a crush on Brandon(the scene in this book where she mentally chooses him while he's sleeping is endearing), but she keeps referring to their relationship as a friendship, and she keeps treating it as one. Not to mention, she points out that crushes usually burn out at the beginning of the book. Is this foreshadowing? Is she losing interest in him? I wish the book was more clear because watching Nikki and Brandon beating around the bush is getting frustratingly confusing. And not in a good way.

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Secret Crush Catastrophe Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Secret Crush Catastrophe

André chose to wear the NHH school uniform during his exhange week, despite the fact he was in a school with no obligatory school uniform. Follow Nikki's adorkable life through sketches, doodles and diary entries as she shares all the details of her not-so-fabulous life full of BFF drama, hopeless crushes and an extremely cringe-worthy family.Rachel Renee Russell is a lawyer who prefers writing children's books to legal briefs (mainly because books are a lot more fun and pyjamas and bunny slippers aren't allowed in court). She has raised two daughters and lived to tell about it. Rachel lives in northern Virginia with a spoiled pet Yorkie who terrorises her daily by climing on top of her computer and pelting her with stuffed animals while she writes. And, yes, Rachel considers herself a total Dork. Meet Nikki Maxwell (aka Queen of the Dorks!) in the first book in the mega-selling Dork Diaries series, for fans of Lottie Brooks. Join the jokes, drama and aDORKable BFFs with over 50 million copies in print worldwide! Brandon, after all the drama, will finally ask Nikki to be his girlfriend (so Nikki can finally stop saying things like, "Wait? What are we anyway? Friends? MORE than friends? SQUEEEEEEEEEEE! I don't even know!" That's not a direct quote, thank goodness)

Dork Diaries 12

But the book felt way too short compared to the other installments. And Nikki and Brandon's inevitable relationship is being dragged out a lot longer than it should be. If the author, Rachel, keeps dragging it on, she risks the relationship dynamic becoming as unbearable as the Ross and Rachel romance in Friends(which could've been good had they not dragged it out for all ten seasons).School ends and Nikki is now on summer vacation. Brandon comes over for Daisy's next exercise: socialization. He brings some dogs from Fuzzy Friends to help out, but the two of them are so distracted with each other, they forget to watch what the dogs are doing, such as getting into the trash, showing Daisy has not made much progress. Now, the only thing Nikki has to worry about is making the decision on whether to go on the trip to Paris or the tour with Bad Boyz. It was short and sweet, but I definitely know that I'm going to be reading the next book because IT'S BEING SET IN PARIS. Let me say it again: PARIS. But neither of those things happened, and the book ended way too soon with a picture of Brandon and Nikki holding Daisy the dog. Dork Diaries was a huge part of my childhood because I absolutely fell in love with Nikki and Rachel Renee Russell. As I've grown older and the story has grown, I still have respect for Rachel and the series [while still reading the entire series].