Book Review: The Dork Diaries (plus giveaway!)

Kenzie may not be my biological child but she has one thing in common with me for sure.  She loves to read!  Kenzie has been interested in reading for some time and can be seen with a book often.  When I was given the chance to review the Dork Diaries books, I knew she would be thrilled!

The first book she read was Tales From a Not-So Fabulous Life.  She read it fairly quickly because she enjoyed it so much.  Here is a synopsis of the book:

Dork Diaries follows eighth grader Nikki Maxwell, who chronicles through text and sketches her move to a snooty new school; her epic battle with her mom for an iPhone; her enthusiasm for drawing & art; and a love/hate fascination with the new school’s queen bee, a girl named Mackenzie who becomes Nikki’s rival in a school-wide art competition.

The second book is Tales From a Not-So Popular Party Girl.  Kenzie actually took this one with us when we flew to New York.  She said they are easy to read and I could see that they were entertaining because they kept her attention for a good portion of the flight.  Here is a synopsis of the book:

Settled in at her new school and flanked by awesome friends Chloe and Zoey, life is looking up for Nikki Maxwell, especially since her crush, Brandon, asked her to be his lab partner—a seriously awesome development. However, when Nikki overhears mean girl Mackenzie bragging that Brandon’s taking her to the Halloween dance, a bummed Nikki signs on to spend Halloween at a kids’ party with her little sister, Brianna, instead. After she finds out Mackenzie was lying and her dream of going to the party with Brandon could be a reality, Nikki has two events to juggle . . . plus plenty of other entertaining trials and tribulations along the way!

The author, Rachel Renee Russell states that many of the events in the book are based on the experiences she and her daughters had in middle school.  She also says that she was and still is a DORK!  These books have made the New York Times Best Sellers List and I can see why.  They are great for any tween girl and parents can rest assured that their daughters will enjoy them.

For some extra fun, have your daughter(s), or even yourself visit the Dork Diaries Blog.  It is cute and fun!  The third book will be released in June 2011 so be on the lookout for it!

I am very excited to tell you that I am able to offer the first two books (the ones we received) to one winner!

Here is how to enter:

• For your first required comment, let me know who you want to win this set for.

After the first required entry, you can do any (or all) of the following for one entry each!

• Subscribe to ToBeThode by Email (must be verified) or Reader. Leave me a comment that you did or if you already are.
• Follow ToBeThode publicly in Google Friend. Leave a comment letting me know that you did or if you already are.
• Follow me on Twitter AND tweet about this giveaway. (You must do both for this entry.) Leave me a comment with your status update! You can tweet once daily for an extra entry. Be sure to come back and leave the URL for your status update.

• Share this giveaway (with a link) with your friends on Facebook. Leave me a comment letting me know that you did. It would be very helpful if you would leave me a link or include @ToBeThode in your update.
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• Follow my blog on Networked Blogs. Leave me a comment with your first name and last initial so I can find you.
• Boost this giveaway on Prizey (it may take a one or two days for a giveaway to show on Prizey. If it is not there, please check back to complete this entry.)

Entries will be accepted until 11:59pm (CST) on December 20, 2010. Winner will be drawn by random generator and posted on the Winners page. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond in order to claim their prize. This giveaway is open for US residents. One entry per household please!

Disclosure: We received the books mentioned for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and my daughter’s.

Tagged as: giveaway, review