Penned when the author was still in middle school, Popular details how a teen who began at the bottom of the social ladder gained confidence and popularity using a surprising tool: A how-to-be-popular guide from the 1950s.
When Maya ended her seventh grade year, she claimed she was only a little more popular than substitute teachers (so not at all). She wasn't bullied or anything. She just didn't exist. Then her dad discovered Betty Cornell's Teenage Popularity Guide while cleaning, Maya thought, "Why not?". She decided to try an experiment: Going through the book chapter by chapter and incorporating tools like can curlers, pearls, proper diet & exercise, and other things suggested by the book, Maya gains confidence and develops a whole new outlook. And, naturally, the way the world responds to her changes as well. Does Maya become Queen Bee of her school? Maybe her transformation was not quite that extreme (because that sort of thing only happens in 80s movies), but it was certainly an improvement. So her experiment was a success. More so than she ever could have imagined. Maya even gets to meet her hero, the author of the book that changed her life for the better. So an extra happy ending!
Popular is a fun read. Maya is very likable and her writing style is so accessible you don't even realize you're reading nonfiction.
100% recommended!
--AJB
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