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The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang
By Amy Ignatow
Amulet Books (an imprint of Abrams)
$15.95
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8421-9
Ages 9-12
On shelves now

There are good and bad results that occur when a book like Diary of a Wimpy Kid hits the stratosphere. On the one hand, suddenly publishers are a lot more open-minded about breathing life into books that mix text and images in new and unique ways. The door opens a little wider for unconventional titles that straddle a variety of writing genres and styles and (normally) don’t win any literary awards. That’s the good. The bad thing is that as a result any book that tries to make any headway in the market using pictures as well as text (and PARTICULARLY if it has a diary/journal format) is on some level going to be slapped with a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wannabe” label by the critics out there unwilling to read it closely. Did I judge The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow too harshly when I glanced at its cover for the first time? Absolutely. But I flipped it over to peruse the back and found, to my utter amazement and downright shock, that the picture there had me laughing out loud. From out of nowhere! Without another thought I checked it out of my library and read it that night in a single sitting. Funny is hard. Funny in a journal format is harder. And funny in a journal format with a plot that not only tracks but also kinda makes you feel for the characters? Let’s just say that this Amy Ignatow woman is a force to be reckoned with.

Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are two smart cookies. Some girls going into their last year before middle school would confront the enigma of popularity by either moaning or changing themselves beyond all recognition. Lydia and Julie have a much better plan. First, they have this notebook where Julie (the artistic one) can record their observations. The mission? To stealthily watch all the popular girls they know so as to best determine how to someday be popular themselves. Lydia (the brave one) will subject herself to rigorous testing, whether it involves bleaching off a chunk of her hair or joining an eskrima class (otherwise known as stick fighting). Along the way they attempt to finagle cell phones out of their parental units (with unfortunate results), deal with a Norwegian crush, and have a falling out that may or may not put an end to their friendship. Being popular may be tough but attaining it? Hilarious.

I’ll get to the sheer unique humor of the book in a second, but first I want to give full credit to the storytelling. The other day a writer asked me, “What is it about a female character that makes you want to like them?” I responded the usual answers of “a sense of humor” and “empathy” but it’s a tough question. Why do people connect so directly with the characters in the Harry Potter series, but don’t feel as touched by other fantasy folks? In the case of this particular book,