Dork Diaries — Used Books

“Okay, game plan,” Zoey said, pulling her pink backpack straps tighter. She had a clipboard. Because Zoey loves a clipboard. “We’re looking for Dork Diaries books one through five. Used. Cheap. Maximum one dollar per book.”

Zoey found me ten minutes later, holding a stack of books two feet high. “Nikki? You okay? You look like you just saw a ghost wearing a glitter beret.” dork diaries used books

Under the printed chapter one, in that same purple pen, Mackenzie had written notes in the margins. Little critiques. Next to the part where Nikki spills spaghetti on her new jeans, Mackenzie had scribbled: “Clumsy much? Try better posture. - M.H.” Next to the part about Brandon, she’d written: “Boys are a distraction. Focus on your mirror.” “Okay, game plan,” Zoey said, pulling her pink

I pulled it out reverently. Price: $1.25. “We’re looking for Dork Diaries books one through five

The smell hit me first—a dusty, sweet, sun-baked vanilla scent that no e-reader or brand-new hardcover could ever replicate. It was the smell of a thousand forgotten stories, and I was hunting for just one.

We split up. Zoey took the “Young Readers” section near the front, which was really just three shelves of Goosebumps and old Baby-Sitters Club books. I headed for the labyrinth in the back, where the shelves leaned like tired grandparents and the categories made no sense. “Fiction” bled into “Self-Help” which bled into “Cookbooks from 1987.”

I bought the book for $1.25. Then I went home and, on a sticky note, wrote a message. Not mean. Not revenge. Just: