The Popularity Papers: by Amy IgnatowLydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are best friends. The two are determined to crack the popularity code before starting junior high next year. They observe the popular students, and write their findings in a secret journal. This novel is written in diary format with funny, adds little extra something something, illustrations
Lydia and Julie's personalities are as different as their writing style. I love that author took the time to differentiate between Lydia and Julie's penmanship, its makes it feel like you are reading a journal.
Julie will do most of the recording. When need be Lydia will put herself into the experiment. Julie and Lydia notice that the popular girls have a blond streak in their hair. They use bleach to put a blond streak in Lydia's hair. A patch of Lydia hair falls out.
The voices of Lydia and Julie are spot on, as is their friendship. Ignatow has done an excellent job with this debut. I laughed throughout the book. I think many authors would've been satisfied with having the jokes be on Lydia and Julie. The laughs I got were not at the expense of Lydia and Julie. I think young girls who see themselves as these two characters will appreicate that.
Ignatow surrounds the best friends with some great people. Lydia lives with her mom and her older sister who recently turned goth. Julie lives with her two dads. Its always nice to read a middle grade novel, with a character that has same sex parents, and its not a big deal, it just is. The author lets the reader get to the know the families.
As the school year continues Lydia and Julie get to know the popular kids better. They begin to put themselves out there more especially Lydia. This is a funny honest look at two best friends trying to understand popularity. I loved it 10 up
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