Saturday, March 30, 2019

Dork Diaries 13: Tales from a Not So Happy Birthday by Rachel Renee Russell


Title: Dork Diaries 13: Tales from a Not So Happy Birthday
Author: Rachel Renee Russell
Read by:  Jenni Barber
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Length: Approximately 3 hours and 42 minutes
Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

My eight-year-old daughter Penelope is a fan of the Dork Diaries.  They are a bit above her on reading level, but we enjoy reading them together.  We have finished the first novel, and are working on the second, but I jumped at the chance to review number thirteen.  Penelope was annoyed to be skipping ahead, but she enjoyed listening to the audiobook whenever we had a trip in the car. My ten-year-old son may have enjoyed listening to it as well when he was on short trips with us, although he would denied it if asked.

Dork Diaries 13:  Tales from a Not So Happy Birthday finds our heroine Nikki trying to plan her epic birthday party with her best friends Chloe and Zoey.  A series of unfortunate events seems to plague the trio during their party planning including realizing that their expectations does not meet Nikki’s family’s budget for the event.  They are able to work through these problems with the unexpected help of Nikki’s little sister, Brianna.  Nikki also tries to figure out how to make things work with her boyfriend Brandon for the summer with the two of them spending time in different places.  Will Nikki’s birthday be a blast or a bust?

Jenni Barber was a great narrator and really seemed to inhabit Nikki’s character.  Penelope was very engaged in the plot and wanted to know whether Nikki was going to be able to have her party or not.  We both were very amused by the humor in the book.  Penelope especially loved the light romance between Brandon and Nikki.

Overall, Dork Diaries 13 was a funny audiobook and kept me and my eight-year old daughter entertained on our car trips.  It was fun to discuss the book with her after we got done listening to it.

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