Misadventures of Max Crumbly Books in Order

The Misadventures of Max Crumbly is a spin-off set in the same universe as Dork Diaries, but it shifts the spotlight to a boy who wants nothing more than to be a comic-book hero. Max has just left years of homeschooling with his grandmother and finally talked his parents into letting him attend South Ridge Middle School.

Reality hits hard. Max has asthma, an overactive imagination, and a knack for attracting trouble. His biggest problem is Doug "Thug" Thurston, a bully who thinks stuffing Max into his locker is a fun hobby. To cope, Max keeps a journal full of panicked confessions, superhero fantasies, and sketches that show what he wishes he had the nerve to do.

In Locker Hero a long weekend goes wrong, and Max ends up trapped at school overnight. While crawling through the ventilation system he discovers three burglars stealing the school’s new computers, and suddenly his dream of saving the day feels less like a joke and more like a very real, very risky mission.

The story rolls straight into Middle School Mayhem and Masters of Mischief, where Max teams up with Erin Madison, the smart, confident president of the computer club. From her bedroom, Erin hacks into the school’s security system while Max runs, hides, and improvises booby traps in the hallways. Together they dodge the thieves, nosey adults, and the constant risk of being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Like Dork Diaries, the Max books are told in a handwritten, cartoon-heavy diary style, but the tone leans more toward slapstick and caper than crush drama. There are still awkward moments, embarrassing parents, and worries about fitting in, yet much of the tension comes from sneaking around after hours and trying to be brave when you would rather sprint in the opposite direction.

Max’s world also brushes up against Nikki Maxwell’s. He is first introduced in Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter, and familiar pieces of her world, like the Fuzzy Friends animal shelter, get quick shout-outs. For readers who like Dork Diaries but want a boy narrator, more action, and cliffhanger endings, The Misadventures of Max Crumbly offers three tightly connected books that are best read in order: Locker Hero, Middle School Mayhem, then Masters of Mischief.

At its core, the series is about a kid who feels ordinary trying, in tiny, messy ways, to live up to the heroes in his sketchbook.