Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life

Nikki’s rise to popularity because of her art skills and tattoos exemplifies the book’s major theme of Expectations Versus Reality. In Chapter 25, Brandon is the first to compliment her on her art skills, which foreshadows how the other kids think the tattoos are cool. Brandon says Nikki has more talent in a burp than MacKenzie has in her entire body, another example of the novel’s tendency to undercut with comically crude language any moment that veers toward the romantic. Brandon’s use of a burp in place of the proverbial little finger presents a unique take on a well-worn cliché, illustrating the tension between childhood and adolescence that characterizes middle-school romance.

Chapter 26 is the longest chapter in the book and brings several elements full circle. In Chapter 3, Nikki told her little sister that the Tooth Fairy would steal her teeth and make them into dentures. This badly frightened Nikki’s sister, who has been afraid of the Tooth Fairy ever since. This chapter brings that plotline to a close as Nikki’s sister beats up MacKenzie, believing her to be the Tooth Fairy. “Like pulling teeth” is a common expression that means something is difficult, and here, it serves as the catalyst for Nikki’s sister to attack MacKenzie. The entire chapter is a giant comedy of errors. It seems unlikely that Nikki could hide in MacKenzie’s room and not be noticed, but she manages it, and she gets out of the house without MacKenzie realizing that Nikki’s dad is the exterminator. The plastic bag that Nikki puts over her head is another example of how over-the-top Nikki’s reactions can be. In Chapter 28, MacKenzie comes to school on crutches she doesn’t need and makes what she believes is a cool-sounding story so she doesn’t have to tell the truth about why she cancelled her birthday party. Like Nikki, MacKenzie reacts in an over-the-top way and then tells an even wilder story to preserve her popular-girl image.

Chloe and Zoey’s book donation project shows the girls thinking on the fly. They realize they can put interest in Nikki’s tattoos to good use as a way to prove they should go to New York. As can happen with a good idea, it gets out of hand quickly. Chloe increases the number of books students have to donate to get a tattoo, likely because she wants to make sure no one else can compete with their tattoos-for-books project. Similarly, Zoey overbooks Nikki to draw tattoos so they will get more books and outshine the competition. The girls abuse their power, and Nikki suffers as a result since drawing the tattoos takes more time and energy than either scheduling people or accepting donations. When they first start the project, Nikki is thrilled popular kids are paying attention to her, but as she gets busier and busier with tattoos, she realizes that all the attention isn’t worth giving up everything else in her life.

Nikki continues to use capitalization for emphasis in these chapters. In Chapter 26, Nikki puts “teeth” in all caps. Though MacKenzie is in the middle of an emotional phone call with her friend, it’s likely she didn’t emphasize the word “teeth” more than she emphasized everything else she said. The emphasis on “teeth” shows how it’s perceived by Nikki—as a word that triggers her little sister and a catalyst for the events that follow. In Chapter 29, Nikki emphasizes “died” and “queen” when she’s talking about Chloe’s decision to increase book donations from one to two, showing that she doesn’t approve of either the decision or Chloe’s behavior. Nikki also punctuates the question with the interrobang to show the question is an emphatic one. In Chapter 28, when Nikki is sure nothing will happen to her painting, she writes, “WHAT could go wrong?” Capitalizing “what” not only adds emphasis but also foreshadows, through dramatic irony, that something will go wrong. In Chapter 31, Nikki capitalizes the entire phrase “horrible, wicked tattoo sweatshop,” showing how discontented she is with the situation and how much she feels that Chloe and Zoey are taking advantage of her.