Rachel Renee Russell is an American author and illustrator of the humorous children’s book series, Dork Diaries.
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Rachel Renee Russell was born and raised in Saint Joseph, Michigan, and currently resides in northern Virginia. She is the oldest child and has two younger twin brothers and two younger sisters. She wrote her first book in 6th grade as a birthday present for her twin brothers.[1]
In addition to writing children’s books, Russell is an attorney. She was divorced in April 2009.[2]
Russell's Dork Diaries series dramatically chronicles the daily life of Nikki Maxwell as she struggles to both fit in and survive middle school. It is written in a diary format and includes doodles, drawings and comic strips.
According to the author’s website, the Dork Diaries books are based on Rachel Renee Russell’s experiences in middle school, as well as the middle school experiences of her two daughters. Her younger daughter, Nikki, helps with illustrations.[3]
Currently, there are over 3.3 million copies of the Dork Diaries books in print in the United States. Publishing rights have been sold in 27 countries with translations in 23 different languages.