Parents' Guide to

Dork Diaries 8: Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After

By Terreece Clarke, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Fairy tale twist adds to the fun in popular series.

Book Rachel Renee Russell School 2014
Dork Diaries 8: Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 5 parent reviews

swampfoxsouth
swampfoxsouth Parent of 11-year-old
March 23, 2023
age 10+

The Life of an Eleventh-Grade Dork review by tucker martin

CSM LANGUAGE GUIDE: Light, strong language includes "crapped," "hell," "a--crack," "bulls--t," "piss," "dick," "dork," "idiot," "freaks," "damn," "goddamn," "God's socks," "shut the hell up," "stupid," "freakin'," and "a--cheek."
swampfoxsouth
swampfoxsouth Parent of 11-year-old
March 23, 2023
age 10+

The Life of an Eleventh-Grade Dork review by tucker martin

CSM LANGUAGE GUIDE: Light, strong language includes "crapped," "hell," "a--crack," "bulls--t," "piss," "dick," "dork," "idiot," "freaks," "damn," "goddamn," "God's socks," "shut the hell up," "stupid," "freakin'," and "a--cheek."
See all 5 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Nikki took a ball to the face, and now she's stuck traipsing through fairy tales looking for a wizard who can help her get home. Sound familiar? Well, as usual with Nikki, nothing is as simple as it seems, especially when there's an evil witch that looks remarkably like her arch-nemesis trying to lock her up in a dungeon. Will she outsmart the witch and find the wizard? Will she make it past the hungry wolf, angry bears, and crazy Queen of Hearts? And the biggest question of all: Will she find Prince Charming?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5):
Kids say (14):

DORK DIARIES 8: TALES FROM A NOT-SO-HAPPILY EVER AFTER is a fun and fluffy take on several fairy tales, with a Nikki twist. Author Rachel Renee Russell veers from the tried-and-true formula she's followed throughout the series; the fairy tale angle could have meant even more overly sweet, tweeny situations, but it makes the book more fun.

Readers will eagerly anticipate their favorite bedtime stories and enjoy trying to figure out which of Nikki's friends will play which role. Parents will appreciate more adult involvement in the bullying involving McKenzie and Nikki.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how the media portrays mean-girl behavior. What do you think the consequences should be for bullying?

  • What's different about how Nikki approaches problems in the fairy tales she encounters as compared with how they're handled in the real-life story? What messages does each approach send?

  • If you could rewrite any story, what would it be and how would you change it?

Book Details

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