11 books like Dork Diaries
If what you loved about Dork Diaries was the scribbled-notebook format, the school hierarchy politics and the running commentary on everyday humiliation, there's plenty more in that vein. Below are diary novels, doodle-heavy notebooks and graphic novels that hit the same notes, from the very well known to a few you probably haven't met.
Updated September 2026
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Handwritten diaries with doodles in the margins
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney 2007
The obvious companion read: a school journal packed with cartoons and small daily disasters, but narrated by a boy whose self-awareness is much lower than Nikki's.
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby 2021
A British Year 7 diary of cringe moments, crushes and friendship wobbles with the same doodled layout; the humour is sharper and the school setting unmistakably comprehensive rather than exclusive.
Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton 2004
Same format, same obsession with the popular girl at school, delivered in shorter, snarkier entries that lean hard into exaggeration.
Notebooks about cracking the popularity code
The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow 2010
A shared notebook in which two friends study the popular crowd like scientists, so you get Nikki's fascination with the elite without her longing to join them.
Girl, 15, Charming but Insane by Sue Limb 2004
Also about measuring yourself against a prettier, more popular best friend, but pitched older, with teenage romance and no illustrations.
Amelia's Notebook by Marissa Moss 1995
A handwritten, hand-drawn notebook by a girl finding her footing at a new school; it's gentler and much shorter than a Dork Diaries volume.
Graphic novels about surviving middle school socially
Smile by Raina Telgemeier 2010
Friendship groups turning cruel and the agony of looking wrong at school, drawn in full-colour comics and drawn from the author's own life.
Real Friends by Shannon Hale 2017
Digs into the same hierarchy of who's in and who's out, with a franker look at anxiety and how friendships genuinely end.
Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova 2015
New girl, clubs at war, social rules to learn — the setup will feel familiar, though it's told in manga-influenced panels and gives the boy next to her equal weight.
Funny school-survival stories with illustrations, no diary required
Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson 2011
Cartoon-scattered comedy about waging war on a strict new school; the plot is driven by an escalating scheme instead of daily entries.
My Brother Is a Superhero by David Solomons 2015
Shares the fast, joke-per-page voice of a kid who feels overlooked, set against a comic-book premise rather than cafeteria politics.
If you also liked…
- Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
- Fifty Shades of Grey by E.l. James
- Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Questions
- Is Diary of a Wimpy Kid too young if you've finished Dork Diaries?
- Not at all — the reading level is similar and the cartoon-heavy pages go quickly. It just swaps Nikki's social anxiety for Greg Heffley's cheerful self-interest.
- Which of these is closest to Dork Diaries in feel?
- The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks, for the diary entries, doodles and relentless focus on being embarrassed at school. Dear Dumb Diary runs it close if you want something shorter.
- Are the graphic novels suitable for the same age?
- Smile, Real Friends and Awkward are all aimed at roughly 9–13 and handle friendship fallouts honestly without anything inappropriate. Real Friends is the most emotionally direct of the three.