Guest Blogger: Rachel Renee Russell & Giveaway

Yesterday, Booking Daughter and I reviewed a terrific new middle grade book called DORK DIARIES: TALES FROM A NOT-SO-FABULOUS LIFE by Rachel Renee Russell. We both really enjoyed this book, and I have a feeling that lots of middle-grade girls are going to love this story.

I am so honored that the author of this book, Rachel Renee Russell, is joining me today. She has given me a very special guest post -- it's actually an entry from Nikki's diary that she has re-written to include Booking Daughter and me! The diary entry below is one of Booking Daughter's favorite scenes from DORK DIARIES:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH

I was pretty SICK and TIRED of hearing about MacKenzie and her STUPID little party! But, since she is in my geometry class and I sit right behind her, I knew I was just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. I was trying my best to ignore her when she turned around, smiled at me and did the STRANGEST thing!



She handed ME a bright pink invitation tied with a big, white satin bow!

I gasped and almost fell out of my chair.

My brain was like OMG! OMG! OMG!

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, other than maybe that new iPhone I wanted.

Who would have thought that I would get an invitation to THE party of the year?!

Then it dawned on me that this might be some kind of really cruel JOKE.

I looked around the room for a hidden camera, half expecting Ashton Kutcher (I can’t believe he’s married to a woman older than my mom) to jump out of the closet and yell…

“YOU JUST GOT PUNKED!”

Then, I realized that most of the other girls in my class were staring at me with envy and disbelief.

It was really weird because suddenly I noticed I had tiny lint balls all over my favorite hoodie.

And, it made me feel self-conscious, so I tried to pick a few of them off.

None of MacKenzie’s friends would be caught dead in a “Not-From-The-Mall,” hoodie with lint balls on it.

So, I made a mental note…

BURN CURRENT WARDROBE!!



MacKenzie was still smiling at me like I was her new BFF or something. “Hey, Hon! I was just wondering if you would—?”

But, I was SO excited I jumped right in before she could even finish her sentence.

“MacKenzie, I would LOVE to!” I gushed. “Thanks for asking me…Hon!”

Okay. So, I actually called her “Hon” even though I always thought that word sounded super phony.

And, yes, I was totally GEEKED and as HAPPY as Vanessa Anne Hudgens when she found out she was NOT getting kicked off High School Musical 3!

But, mostly I was in SHOCK. I could hardly believe I was actually going to MacKenzie’s party! Soon, I was going to have really cool friends, a social life and maybe even a boyfriend.

I was starting to believe my THAT’S SO HOT!! magazine was right. Maybe the key to happiness really was friends, fun, fashion, and flirting!!

It’s like I was floating on air, amid sunshine, rainbows, twinkling stars, and pink cotton candy clouds, passionately clutching my invitation to MacKenzie’s party over my heart!!



My hands were shaking as I untied the ribbon and tore open the envelope.

Suddenly, MacKenzie narrowed her eyes at me and scowled like I was something smeared on the bottom of her shoe.

“You IDIOT!” she hissed, “WHAT are you doing?!”

“Umm, opening m-my invitation?” I stammered.

I was already starting to have a really bad feeling about this whole party thing.

“Like I would invite you?!” she sneered, flipping her blond tresses and batting her long lashes at me in disgust. “Aren’t you the new girl who hangs around my locker all the time like some kind of creepy stalker?”

“Well, yes… I mean, NO! Actually, my locker is right next to yours,” I muttered.

“Are you sure?” she said looking me up and down like I was lying to her or something. I couldn’t believe she was actually pretending like she didn’t know me. I’ve only had a locker next to hers like FOREVER!

“I’m VERY sure!” I said.

Then MacKenzie took out her Lip Luv lip gloss and applied like 3 extra-thick layers. After gazing at herself in her little compact mirror for two whole minutes (she is SO STUCK on herself!) she snapped it shut and glared at me.

“Before you so RUDELY interrupted me, I was simply asking if you would PASS my invitation to JESSICA! How was I supposed to know you were going to rip it open like some uncivilized GORILLA?” Mackenzie spat.



Then everyone in the class turned around and stared at me.

I could NOT believe my ears!

How dare that girl actually call me, UNCIVILIZED!!

“Oh. Okay. MY BAD!” I said, trying to sound coolly nonchalant about the whole thing while blinking back my tears, “Um, who’s Jessica?”

Suddenly I felt a sharp tap on my shoulder.

I turned around to face the girl sitting in the desk behind me.

She had long blonde hair and was wearing pink, glitter lip gloss, a pink sweater, a pink mini skirt, and a headband trimmed with fake pink diamonds.

If I had spotted her in at Toys-R-US, I swear I would have probably mistaken her for a new fashion doll:

TOTALLY TICKED-OFF JESSICA



“I’m Jessica,” she announced, rolling her eyes at me. “I can’t believe you opened MY invitation!”

I was desperately trying to tie the satin ribbon back on when she snatched the invitation from my hand so violently, I almost got a paper cut.

I felt like a TOTAL RETARD! And, to make matters worse, I heard a few of the kids around me snickering.

This was absolutely THE most EMBARRASSING moment of my PATHETIC little life!!

And, I had no doubt that in just a matter of minutes, everyone in the ENTIRE school was going to be text-messaging gossip about me.

I was relieved when our math teacher, Mrs. Sprague, finally started class. She spent the entire hour at the board reviewing how to calculate the volume of a cylinder, sphere and cone for our upcoming test.

But, I was too freaked out to concentrate on math formulas and was totally NOT listening. I just sat there staring at the back of MacKenzie’s head wishing I could disappear.

I guess I must have been really upset because a tear rolled down my cheek and splattered my math notebook.

But, I wiped it up with the sleeve of my “Not-From-the-Mall-Hoodie-With-Lint-Balls-All-Over-It” before anyone saw it.

Even though I was totally bummed about all of the DRAMA about the invitation, I really wasn’t that mad at MacKenzie.

I’M SUCH A LOSER!! If I was having a party, I WOULDN’T invite myself either!



In spite of the horrible day I was having, I spent an hour during library reading really cool book reviews at this blog called, “Booking Mama.” Unlike that snob, MacKenzie, Booking Mama and Booking Daughter are totally awesome!

As if this guest post wasn't enough fun, I have something even more exciting! Ms. Russell is offering one of my readers the chance to win a copy of DORK DIARIES: TALES FROM A NOT-SO-FABULOUS LIFE! Not only will the winner receive a copy of the book, but he/she will also win a precious "Nikki's Purse" gift pack. Initially, we received just the ARC of the book because we received it directly from the publisher, but Dar from Peeking Between the Pages graciously sent Booking Daughter her prize pack! I can definitely say that any middle grade girl would love this gift. There is an adorable purse filled with loads of goodies like candy, gum, perfume, lip gloss, a pen, pins, etc. Trust me when I say that I even wanted one for myself!!

Here's how to enter (you can do any one or all of these options):

1) Leave a comment with your e-mail address telling me why you want to win DORK DIARIES and the prize pack.

2) Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post.

3) Tweet about this giveaway with a link back to this post.

This giveaway is open until June 23rd at 11:59 p.m. EST, and I will notify the winner the following day. Only those of you with U.S. or Canada mailing addresses are eligible -- no p.o. boxes please. Good Luck!