Rachel Renee Russell
Age Range: Tween +
Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Nikki Maxwell is your average teenaged girl who has a passion for drawing and diary writing! Now attending a new school, she's got to find herself and try to balance school, homelife, friends, a nemesis, and her crush.
Nikki is soon pitted against a new nemesis that seems to want nothing but to crush Nikki underneath her designer footwear.
Can Nikki handle the pressure?
Review/Report/Spoilers? Don't read it if you want to keep the surprise of the book. Otherwise? Journey on and click for more!
Starting life at a new school is hard for anyone. Trying to be accepted by total strangers into a school that already has it's own hierarchy status? Seems like a nightmare to most.
Nikki Maxwell is just trying to fit in. She aspires to be apart of the CCP Crowd (That's Cute, Cool & Popular) and thinks the best way to open those doors is for a bran new cell phone. What teenaged girl doesn't want their own phone? [I never did, but... I'm one of those rare types.] So she's presented with a gift from her mother. And OMG!!
Squeee!!!
Nikki is suuuuper happy to receive her new
When Nikki starts school she finds her locker right next to the most popular girl in school, MacKenzie Hollister-- who is pretty much the school's resident Mean Girl. Anyone new and obviously not deemed 'pretty' by her eyes, or doesn't have the right clothes, attitude, whatever is pretty much prime prey for MacKenzie. [This character amuses me to no end throughout the series...]
One day at school Nikki realizes that there are posters plastering the halls advertising for an art contest! Which is the school's annual art show. And this year, first prize is $500. Of course, being the avid artist that Nikki is, sees this as a brilliant way to... (wait for it!) ...get a new cell phone! She also realizes that if she wins that she might be able to make a name for herself in the school. She rushes to the office to pick up an application for the contest but soon spots MacKenzie blabbing on and on about her fashion illustrations and how brilliant they are. Nikki's a smart cookie and puts two and two together realizing that her competition will be none other than the Queen Mean Girl herself, MacKenzie Hollister. The stomach butterflies begin to flutter, making her start to freak out and Nikki backs out.. taking up a library shelving assistant job application instead. She's told she'll be working with two other girls who signed up the week previous.
Meanwhile a day or two passes and Nikki is kicking herself for not having the courage to have picked up an art application is incredibly annoyed that she's going to be stuck shelving 'boring books' all day, everyday. And worst of all-- the worry that that no-good MacKenzie might end up winning the art competition!
The school's attention sudden is filled with excitement as MacKenzie starts to hand out invitations left and right. Girls are breaking down and crying with excitement, hugging each other... it almost appears like it's a scene from MTV'S Super Sweet 16. While sitting in the cafeteria, Nikki realizes that an invation to MacKenzie's party was handed out to her crush, Brandon Roberts. Apparently everyone was sucking up to MacKenzie during the invitation hand outs except for Brandon. This, of course, ticks MacKenzie off. Because OMG if a cute guy blows her off, it's SO the end of the world, right?!!?
Nikki is soon finding herself totally falling for Brandon. [Spoiler alert!! Like stuff isn't being spoiled already, right? haha! Brandon's a really nice guy throughout the books! I love this about him!]
Work in the library soon begins and Nikki soon meets up with the other two girls, who quickly become her new BFFs. Chloe and Zoey. And NO they're not twins... but they act like it! They're just good friends who just happen to have similar sounding names. Convenient, no?
One day, during class Nikki is handed an invitation from MacKenzie. Nikki's eyes light up in pure shock and confusion and extreme happiness. Maybe MacKenzie wasn't so bad after all! Of course, Nikki is in her own little world right now to realize what's going on. So she starts to open her invitation but is instead greeted by MacKenzie starting to freak out and yell at her. That invitation? Was SO not meant for Nikki, but instead for Jessica, the girl that sits behind her.
How embarrassing! Nikki is heartbroken, crushed, and even more embarrassed from the fact that MacKenzie just called her all kinds of name sin front of everyone in class.
As time goes on Nikki learns that she can't sulk forever and has to get on with life.. at home and at school. The last day for sign-ups for the art competition is in it's last day and Nikki tries to suck it up. And approaches MacKenzie to try and pay her a compliment and wish her luck in the art competition. But of course, MacKenzie doesn't NEED her luck and uses the opportunity to insult Nikki right on the spot calling her 'too chicken' to even enter the competition. Apparently this is enough to get Nikki's head in the game and she signs up for the competition. MacKenzie just totally doesn't like this and vows to get revenge for someone trying to rise up against her.
The next day in the cafeteria Nikki is looking for a place to sit down to ear and Jessica (the girl that the invitation MacKenzie was attempting to give to earlier) sticks out her leg and ends up tripping Nikki. Her tray smashes to the floor as Nikki follows in suit, her lunch ends up all over her and she's just completely mortified. [Who wouldn't be??!] Everyone in the cafeteria is laughing at her... all except for one person: Brandon.
Nikki's knight in shining armor comes to her rescue and helps her up, offering her a napkin to help clean herself off. [Awww!]
After cleaning up the mess that one of the Administration totally blamed on Nikki [Typical right? That's always what happens when something really isn't your fault! I'm sure we've all been there..], Nikki makes her way to hide, but her new found friends, Chloe and Zoey, sniff her out, finding her. These girls are awesome! They help Nikki through this rough time and help her get cleaned up.
Nikki is just positively embarrassed to the 200th degree level and realizing that her crush DOES notice her, she doesn't want to go to school sooo she manages to convince her Mom she was sick and ends up staying home... with a rash on her ear from a failed 'Faux cell phone' project she did up the day previously.
The next day back at the library the girls are faced with an announcement from the school's librarian that there was going to be a field trip from the Library Assistants to the New York City Public Library to participate in National Library Week but they're only going to be able to pick three people who were dedicated, and committed. So they must find a way to make Mrs. Peach (the librarian lady!) make sure that they're noticed and pick them for the trip. So they get get the idea to do tattoos that promote reading to their classmates.. And of course Nikki is enlisted!
It takes days to make Nikki break out of her shell and go on with the plans, but she does! Or.. will.. not yet! Some other stuff happens first!
Liiike Nikki going with her dad to this big fancy house to rid it of bugs. [Nikki's dad is an exterminator... And the idea of him being an exterminator driving around with a giant roach on top of the company van is horrifying. If any of the kids at school ever found out, SHE THINKS that they'd make her the laughing stock of the whole school.] Of course with her little sister having to go potty, she asks her dad's client if her sister can use the bathroom. So.. they go in, but something is sooo eerie... ZOMG! It's MacKenzie' house!!
Nikki's little sister, Brianna, ends up messing around in MacKenzie's room while Nikki tries to stop her... but soon hears a familiar voice coming along. OMG--! Nikki hides, while Brianna pretty much kicks MacKenzie in the shin [OMG best moment ever! Hahaha!]. MacKenzie yells for her mom and hobbles away angrily which allows for both Nikki and Brianna to escape. Whoo! Disaster averted!
Sooo now Nikki is starting to give out tattoos for student's book donations back at school and it's going great! All the while she continues to work on her art competition painting. Even the school newspaper (who's photographer is Brandon!) does a feature on her work. Though as the days go by, Nikki is feeling like a tattoo slave... doing so many during the day, getting little to eat, little to sleepy all because she's doing so many tattoos. The entire school is talking about them and everyone who's ANYONE must have one. It eventually gets to be too much for her and she quits, feeling like her friends just pretty much used her the whole week.
So when Nikki returns to school the next day -- it's the day she turns in her entry for the art competition. She manages to catch him and gets a ride to school but when she gets out she sets her painting down and it catches on the tire and THE WORST POSSIBLE THING happens! Her painting is crushed. Totally ruined. Nikki is beyond upset, heartbroken, and just feeling all around miserable. Of course, Brandon shows up again and tries to make an appearance to offer her some shelter from the rain with his umbrella, trying to cheer her up.. Nikki finally heads inside and she realizes that everyone seems to be laughing and whispering and pointing at her. When she looks up to see her locker, written on her locker in red lipstick, are the words 'Bug Girl.' MacKenzie found out that Nikki's dad was the one that came by to help with the bug problem at her house and figured she'd let the whole school in on the secret. Nikki is mortified because her worst possible SUPER embarrassing thing ever just got out all over school. She never wants to go back to school again. Everything has been ruined. Her chance at the art competition, her social life at school, her friends... everything.
Days pass and it looks like Nikki is leaving her school when she decides to go back and clean out her locker. She passes the entries to the school's art competition and is surprised to see that MacKenzie didn't win first place.. but instead, there on the wall are a series of black and white photographs with a 1st place ribbon next to it with "Nikki Maxwell" next to it. Apparently Brandon had taken a bunch of pictures of the tattoos that Nikki had done over the week and Chole, and Zoey entered that as a piece for her. [Aww!]
The power of friendship and all of that. :D
Nikki is soon feeling better and decides to give the whole new school thing a second go, but this time? She's goin' in with head held high and taking things on with a new ambition.
In the long run, reading the character's diary (well, technically the book. Hah!) and reading about her inner most secrets (as I've said before) is incredibly fun. Having someone else's diary that you-- as the reader-- are "okay" to invade is pretty tantalizing.
Some of the moments leave you clawing your eyes out rooting for Nikki to succeed and for her enemies to get a firm kick in the pants. It's a charming look into the main character's life and everything that surrounds her.
As an adult, this is technically a book that's aimed at Tweens (and Teens), but I found it incredibly cute and enjoyable. I was on the edge of my seat while turning each page.
It was well written and Rachel Renee Russell does a great job at pulling everything together.
Rated: ♥♥♥♥
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