The teen years are often described as volatile and dramatic, and the characters and situations of Dork Diaries, as described in Nikki’s journal, support this assessment. Through Nikki’s outsized reactions to seemingly small things, Chloe and Zoey’s desire to run away when they can’t get tattoos, and MacKenzie’s horrified reaction to an exterminator at her house, the novel explores how the teen years lend themselves to big reactions and emotions.

Nikki tends to have big reactions, regardless of whether the situation warrants it. In Chapter 9, when she’s in line to sign up for the art contest, Nikki thinks that “the choice [she] was about to make could impact the rest of [her] life” (54). While entering or not entering the art contest could be a deciding moment in Nikki’s life that influences other decisions she makes, that exact moment is unlikely to change the rest of her life on its own. Given that Nikki decides not to sign up at that moment but later changes her mind, it’s clear within just a few chapters that the decision was reversed and thus did not have any true staying power. The importance Nikki places on deciding whether to sign up for the art contest symbolizes how choices seem more important in the moment than they might overall.