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Dear Dumb Diary book cover 1
Dear Dumb Diary book cover 2
Dear Dumb Diary book cover 3
Dear Dumb Diary
Series · 22
books · 1750-2016

Books in series

Let's Pretend This Never Happened book cover
#1

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

2004

Read the hilarious, candid, (and sometimes not-so-nice,) diaries of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything in her diary is true...or at least as true as it needs to be. School was okay today. Actually, it was better than okay. Angeline got her long, beautiful hair tangled in one of the jillion things she has dangling from her backpack, and the school nurse—who is now one of my main heroes—took a pair of scissors and snipped two feet of silky blond hair from the left side of her head, so now Angeline only looks like The Prettiest Girl in the World if you're standing on her right. (Although personally, I think she would look better if I was standing on her neck.)
My Pants Are Haunted book cover
#2

My Pants Are Haunted

2004

Read the hilarious, candid (and sometimes not-so-nice), diaries of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything in her diary is true—or at least as true as it needs to be. They were just a soft, ordinary pair of thrift-shop jeans until Jamie Kelly tried them on . . . Then they became a tight, scratchy, slightly smelly, and utterly ordinary pair of thrift-shop jeans with an embarrassing haunting problem. Do the pants have the power to soothe a vengeful beagle, vanquish The Prettiest Girl in the World, or make the wearer irresistible to the eighth cutest guy in the grade? Are the haunted pants so dazzling they can hurt and maybe permanently damage the eyes of onlookers? Or are the haunted pants just, well, haunted (which is kind of gross when you think about it)?
Am I the Princess or the Frog? book cover
#3

Am I the Princess or the Frog?

2005

Jamie is crushing on Hudson. Someone too-gross-to-be- named is crushing on Jamie. And Hudson is crushing on . . . Princess Turd of Turdsylvania (a.k.a. The Prettiest Girl in the World). Middle school may be grim, but it's no fairy tale. And crazy doesn't even begin to cover it. "Dear Dumb Diary, I got another poem today from You-Know-Who 'She is the fairest blossom, true, She blooms in any weather. But I must love her from afar. We'll never be together.' Signed, M.P. Can you believe the pain he's in? His suffering? The crushing heartache he endures every time he sees me? Gosh, it just makes me so happy "
Never Do Anything, Ever book cover
#4

Never Do Anything, Ever

2005

Read the hilarious, candid (and sometimes not-so-nice), diaries of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything in her diary is true...or at least as true as it needs to be. Her best friend's a backstabber. Her worst enemy is a sweetheart. And her dog is just waiting for the right moment to seek his revenge. Why should Jamie even bother going to school? Why not? After a run-in with Mega-Popular Angeline, aka Pure Evil, Jamie reforms her selfish ways & becomes the decent human being she never thought she could be. But she quickly realizes that helping others kind of stinks. Is someone trying to thwart her attempts at irresistible inner beauty? Or will Jamie finally achieve the "I'm an angel" glow she knows will make Hudson Rivers fall madly in love w/ her?
Can Adults Become Human? book cover
#5

Can Adults Become Human?

2006

Read the hilarious, candid (and sometimes not-so-nice), diaries of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything in her diary is true...or at least as true as it needs to be. Dear Dumb Diary,My social studies teacher, Mr. VanDoy, never smiles. I know that's hard to believe, because everybody smiles about something, right?Isabella smiles when her brothers get in trouble. Angeline smiles when she thinks about how much prettier she is than, like, a waterfall or a unicorn. I smile when I think about a unicorn kicking Angeline over a waterfall. But Mr. VanDoy doesn't smile at all. I wonder if when you become an adult, you can lose your sense of humor the way you lose your teeth or hair or fashion sense.
The Problem with Here Is That It's Where I'm From book cover
#6

The Problem with Here Is That It's Where I'm From

2007

Everyone's favorite Mackerel Middle-Schooler, Jamie Kelly, is back with another hilarious, candid (and sometimes not-so-nice) diary! There's a new girl in at Mackerel Middle School.Colette is friendly, fabulous, smart, totally talented, and an all-around amazing individual. She is more brilliantly diabolical than Isabella, as blindly loyal as Stinker, and even harder-to-resist than Angeline. It's enough to make Jamie throw up a little. And Jamie just can't help but Is it humanly possible for a girl to be more perfectly perfect than the most perfect girl in the world?
Never Underestimate Your Dumbness book cover
#7

Never Underestimate Your Dumbness

2008

May the dumb be with you. Dear Dumb Diary, Isabella is probably right. She almost always is. When I think back on all the things I've seen Angeline do, the one thing they have in common is that they're all dumb. (They're all strawberry-scented, too, but I think that's just her conditioner - although her body might actually secrete its own strawberry scent.) But of all the dumb things she's ever done, this has got to be the dumbest. Sneak a peek inside the diary of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything she writes is true... or at least as true as it needs to be.
It's Not My Fault I Know Everything book cover
#8

It's Not My Fault I Know Everything

2008

New York Times Bestselling author Jamie Kelly is back with another hilarious, candid, and sometimes not-so-nice diary! Dear Dumb Diary,I went back and read some of my very oldest diaries. The entries say things like "I eated salad dressing" and "I got a Barbie shoe stuck in Stinker's nose again" and "The vet was mean to me about the Barbie shoe so I tried to bite him but vets are quick at not getting bit because dogs try all the time but dogs don't usually kick so I did that."What amazed me was just how dumb I used to be, considering how smart I am now. There must have been a day when I just woke up smart.
That's What Friends Aren't For book cover
#9

That's What Friends Aren't For

2010

Bestselling author Jamie Kelly is back with an all-new, all-funny diary! But she has no idea that anybody is reading it. So please, please, please don't tell her. Dear Dumb Diary,So now I'm friends with Angeline. This is automatic friendship, and I have to just accept it and make the best of things. See, if I objected, then Aunt Carol might divorce Angeline's uncle, sending both of them tumbling into a deep pit of depression for the rest of their lives, and Angeline could wind up feeling so guilty that she would have to go be locked up in an old dirty insane asylum for years and years, and Stinker's puppies could grow up not knowing both their parents —- and I couldn't live with myself for doing something like that to a puppy.
The Worst Things In Life Are Also Free book cover
#10

The Worst Things In Life Are Also Free

2010

School's out for the summer, and that means no more Meat Loaf Thursdays, Sunday homework-cramming, or teachers (way way unsuccessfully) trying to act cool. It also means that certain Mackerel Middle Schoolers have a lot of time on their hands . . . and seriously empty pockets. Isabella is going to change all that. And Jamie and Angeline are going to help —- whether they like it or not. It's the best kind of teamwork: When a whole bunch of people work together to do something wrong, instead of doing it wrong one at a time.
Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers book cover
#11

Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers

2014

Bestselling author Jamie Kelly has been keeping diaries for years . . . and each one just gets funnier! But she has no idea that anyone is reading them. So please, please, please don't tell her. Something strange is happening at Mackerel Middle School. Even stranger than Jamie and Isabella becoming friends with Angeline. (Which is still really, really strange.) Jamie can suddenly and inexplicably understand the weirdest and most mysterious creatures around: Boys. And there's only one logical explanation —- superpowers.
Me! (Just Like You, Only Better) book cover
#12

Me! (Just Like You, Only Better)

2011

There are more than 5 million Dear Dumb Diary books in print! Bestselling author Jamie Kelly is back with an all-new, all-funny diary! But she has no idea that anybody is reading it. So please, please, please don't tell her. Dear Dumb Diary, I went five whole days without seeing or hearing from Angeline. I was beginning to get used to it. It's true that I have learned to overlook many of Angeline's flaws, like her flawlessness, but she can still be difficult to be around. Like when she's lit perfectly, for example. To my extreme credit, I have learned to pretend to ignore Angeline's failure to not be perfect.
School. Hasn't This Gone on Long Enough? book cover
#13

School. Hasn't This Gone on Long Enough?

2012

Bestselling author Jim Benton is back, with a brand-new spin on a favorite series! Dear Dumb Diary is a hilarious hit! Now after 12 books (each covering a month of her life), Jamie Kelly's upcoming diaries have a fresh look and a fun twist. It's Dear Dumb Diary: Year Two! The diary entries are still laugh-out-loud funny—but this is a whole new beginning. Everything is another year dumber! As Jamie grapples with school, grades, and middle school's Big Questions, don't miss even more of her words of wisdom like, "If someone is really, really intelligent, it would be polite if they would ugly it up a bit before they left the house." (Jamie STILL has no idea that anybody is reading her diary. So please, please, please don't tell her.)
The Super-Nice are Super-Annoying book cover
#14

The Super-Nice are Super-Annoying

2012

Do NOT read Jamie Kelly's top-secret diaries! "Sometimes it amazes me how ingenious I am about everything." —Jamie Kelly We've been with Jamie Kelly through her search for inner beauty, poofy bridesmaid dresses, and desperate attempts to make money during summer vacation. Along the way, she's left us with countless gems of wisdom, such "If somebody ever asks you to kick her in the face, the first thing she will do is forget that she asked you to do it," and "As long as you keep laughing at how dumb something is, you can secretly enjoy it without risking your cool." Now Jamie's upcoming diaries have a fresh look and a fun twist. It's Dear Dumb Year Two! The diary entries are still laugh-out-loud funny—but this is a whole new beginning. Everything is another year dumber! (But Jamie STILL has no idea that anybody is reading her diary. So please, please, please don't tell her.)
Nobody's Perfect. I'm as Close as It Gets book cover
#15

Nobody's Perfect. I'm as Close as It Gets

2012

Whatever you do, DON'T read Jamie Kelly's bestselling diaries! The bestselling Dear Dumb Diary series is a hilarious hit! Now Jamie Kelly's diaries have a fresh look and a fun twist. Dear Dumb Diary Year Two is still laugh-out-loud funny—but everything is another year dumber! As Jamie continues to grapple with middle school's Big Questions, she drops even more snarky gems of wisdom like, "Everybody knows that the more you love somebody, the less you try to look nice for them," and "People don't appreciate how much willpower it takes to do the wrong thing." (But Jamie STILL has no idea that anybody is reading her diary. So please, please, please don't tell her.)
What I Don't Know Might Hurt Me book cover
#16

What I Don't Know Might Hurt Me

1750

Bestselling author Jim Benton is back, continuing a new spin on a favorite series! Dear Dumb Diary, Just when I was pretty sure we could let the Student Awareness Committee quietly die a dignified death like some majestic old elephant or the Square Dancing Club, Angeline has to be aware of something. Great.And, of course, it couldn't be something interesting like nail polish or why maybe there should be a special class in nail polish and how to get it out of your beagle's ear. (Mom, if you're reading this, I'm not admitting anything. Somebody else could have painted a heart in his ear.)Angeline just had to be aware of one of those THINGS THAT ADULTS LIKE.
You Can Bet on That book cover
#17

You Can Bet on That

2014

The hilarious and bestselling series from Jim Benton continues! Jamie, Isabella, and Angeline have known each other for a long time. They've even become friends—whether Jamie likes it or not. But when the trio starts a friendly competition, all bets are off. The loser will be treated to a game of Dare or Worse Dare... with Isabella. (And Jamie's pretty sure that's like having a banana-peeling contest with a starving monkey. The monkey always wins.) What could go wrong? Probably everything. And it's probably all that blondwad Angeline's fault. Probably. Jamie still has no idea that anyone is reading her diary, so please, please, please don't tell her. And definitely don't tell her that she's the star of her very own Dear Dumb Diary movie, available on DVD. (Her glamorous ego might not be able to handle it.)
Live Each Day to the Dumbest book cover
#18

Live Each Day to the Dumbest

2015

The hilarious and bestselling series from Jim Benton continues! It's not easy being a middle-schooler, and nobody knows that better than Jamie Kelly. There are surprises around every some good, some bad, all dumb. But when Jamie inherits a trunk of her grandmother's things, she never expects to find the biggest surprise of all—Grandma's diary. Violating the privacy of a diary is something Jamie would never do . . . unless she was absolutely certain that she wanted to do it. And when she does, she learns that, deep down, everyone is exactly the same. Dumb. Jamie still has no idea that anyone is reading her diary, so please, please, please don't tell her. And definitely don't tell her that she's the star of her very own Dear Dumb Diary movie, available on DVD. (Her glamorous ego might not be able to handle it.)
Dumbness is a Dish Best Served Cold book cover
#19

Dumbness is a Dish Best Served Cold

2016

Jamie Kelly is back and dumber than ever in this super-deluxe four-color Dear Dumb Diary special edition! Life at Mackerel Middle School is as dumb as ever—but Jamie Kelly may have finally found the key to fame, fortune, and fabulousness. Together with Isabella and Angeline, she's come up with a moneymaking idea, and it has to do with food. Everyone likes food! They're going to be rich!The only problem? They have to come up with something that people actually want to eat.Jamie has some sophisticated thoughts on food, like, "She was manipulating us like dough. Like the sweet, delicious dough that we are. And she was baking us into the type of delicious cookies you can only get from dough like us. And she was putting sprinkles of us on top of us, and—forget it. I'm hungry. I want some cookies." This is sure to go well.
Nhật ký ngốc xít 1 book cover
#1-3

Nhật ký ngốc xít 1

2008

Vấn đề... vấn đề... hôm nay lại có vấn đề!!! Cuộc sống với Jamie Kelly - lý lịch trích chéo: học trường cấp II Mackerel, tủ đồ số 101, bạn thân nhất của Isabella, có định mệnh trở thành công chúa hay điệp viên - là một lô một lốc những vấn đề: Trường học rõ ràng là vấn đề, Angeline - cô bạn cùng lớp đã-học-giỏi-lại-còn-xinh hiển nhiên là vấn đề, căng tin và món thịt khủng khiếp không thể không là vấn đề, cái quần ma ám, hoàng tử giấu mặt, chuyện tình củm ngốc xít, đến cả con chó săn thỏ xấu tính nuôi ở nhà và bà mẹ chuyên thực hiện những Tội ác Thức ăn cũng là những vấn đề to đùng nốt! Thế là ngày nào cô bé cũng mở cuốn sổ bí mật ra, mở đầu bằng "Nhật Ký Ngốc Xít thân mến" và bắt đầu kể lể sự tình. May thay, vấn đề nào rồi cũng được giải quyết \[một cách hài hước và ngoài sức tưởng tượng của hầu hết quần chúng!\] Vui nhộn, sáng tạo đến kỳ quái kết hợp với những ý tưởng minh họa có một không hai, series Nhật ký ngốc xít là một trong những bestseller đáng đọc nhất dành cho lứa tuổi 9-12, hoặc bất cứ ai đang tìm kiếm tiếng cười.
Dear Dumb Diary Collection book cover
#1-10

Dear Dumb Diary Collection

Books 1-10

2010

This collection includes BOOKS 1-10 of the bestselling Dear Dumb Diary series!! Dear Dumb Dairy #1: Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Dear Dumb Diary #2: My Pants are Haunted!, Dear Dumb Diary #3: Am I the Princess or the Frog?, Dear Dumb Diary #4: Never Do Anything, Ever, Dear Dumb Diary #5: Can Adults Become Human?, Dear Dumb Diary #6: Problem With Here Is That It's Where I'm From, Dear Dumb Diary #7: Never Underestimate Your Dumbness, Dear Dumb Diary #8: It's Not My Fault I Know Everything, Dear Dumb Diary #9: That's What Friends Aren't For, Dear Dumb Diary #10: The Worst Things Life Are Also Free
Dear Dumb Diary Books 1-4 book cover
#1-4

Dear Dumb Diary Books 1-4

Let's Pretend This Never Happened/My Pants are Haunted/Am I the Princess or the Frog?/Never Do Anything, Ever

2006

Read the hilarious, candid (and sometimes not-so-nice), diaries of Jamie Kelly. Now Jamie's first four diaries are together in one side-splitting set! Dear Dumb Diary, Here's the thing about Angeline. I know that she shouldn't really bother me that much. I mean, Angeline has even done nice things for me in the past, although I have come to believe that these were probably accidental. There's just something so infuriating about perfect people. When she's nice, it makes me mad. When she's pretty, it makes me mad. It never changes. I guess the only good thing about Angeline is that she can never bother me more than she does right now. Perfect people make me perfectly ill.

Author

Jim Benton
Author · 64 books

Benton began his career in a custom design t-shirt shop where he started designing his own characters. At the same time, Jim did illustrations and artwork for magazines and newspapers. People magazine named him "the most visible cartoonist in America" . Benton also created greeting cards and worked in the magazine and publishing industry. In 1998, his SpyDogs characters became an animated series, The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs, that aired on Fox Kids. Licensing his own creations brought them widespread attention on products, such as It's Happy Bunny, The Misters, Just Jimmy and more. Benton currently lives in Michigan, where he operates out of his own studio.

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