The Popularity Papers

The Bibliography
Ignatow, Amy. 2010. The Popularity Papers. New York: Amulet Books. ISBN 9780810984219

The Characters
The main characters in The Popularity Papers are Julie Graham-Chang and Lydia Goldblatt. Other characters include Lydia's mom and sister, Julie's dads and various schoolmates.

The Plot
The Popularity Papers is about Julie's and Lydia's quest to be popular by the time they make it to junior high. Through several tests and experiments, lots of spying, and an occasional mishap, the girls find out that being popular is not the most important thing in the world, and that "your friends should be the coolest people you know" (205).

The Setting
an unknown elementary school

The Theme
learning that popularity is not the only thing that makes you a good person

The Style
The Popularity Papers is a journal/scrapbook style book. The text is all handdwritten and there are lots of silly drawings and doodles. Both main characters write the book, so it's from both of their points of view and both handwritings. All their plans on how to be popular by the time they reach junior high (and all the problems this causes) are sketched in the book.

The Analysis
I really liked this book. The drawings were very funny and the main characters are sarcastic and goofy, like me! The characters act just like two best friends that are beginning to make other friends, getting angry over silly things, so it seemed very realistic. The drawings are definitely the best part of the book.

The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The illustrations show Julie Graham-Chang as a honey-skinned girl, probably Chinese or Japanese, and showed her two dads, Daddy (also of some sort of Asian descent) and Papa Dad, who has red curly hair and a matching beard. Lydia has blonde, curly hair, and so does her mom. Her sister, Melody, used to, before she dyed her hair black and became "goth." There are various other races and colors of people in the book, but everyone has their own shade and look. One of the girls' friends, Roland, and his family are from Norway, so there are several references to Norway and drawings about Norwegians. (Roland's dad's name is Thor, so he's drawn with Mjolnir, his hammer, and lightning, and a hat with wings (68)). The book is very well illustrated.

Text: Like with the illustrations of Roland and his family, there are some references to Norwegians and how they speak differently and eat differently. They ate hamburgers, but to Roland, they are called "Karbonader" (69) Even though everyone knows that Julie has two dads, there are also some hidden references to the fact that some people think that's a bad thing "But she made it soundn like having two fathers and no mom was bad" "She started to say tha tshe felt sorry for you because your family isn't normal, and Sukie told her to shut up!!!" (163).

The Review
Andrew Medlar (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 13))
Before they leave elementary school behind, two fifth-grade best friends are determined to uncover the secrets of popularity by observing, recording, discussing, and replicating the behaviors of the cool girls, because when you’re popular, “You are just better.” In a notebook format, this heavily illustrated title shows their research in dramatic, alternating, handwritten entries and colorful, hilarious drawings. Lydia lives with her single mom and pseudo-goth older sister; Julie lives with her two dads. All the girls' family members play big roles in the process, which lasts the whole school year and realistically includes instances in which the girls misjudge and misunderstand themselves and others. Their experiences may be typically tween (boys, cell phones, camping trips, and school musicals), but their reactions to them are laugh-out-loud funny and definitely on par with, though much more feminine than, Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Ignatow offers a quick, fun, well-developed story that invites repeated readings.

The Connection
I think it would be a fun program to begin a scrapbook journal like Lydia and Julie in The Popularity Papers. The program could be based on scrapbooking and could include sharing books like Classic Scrapbooking by Vera Rosenbluth, Cut Loose!: Break the Rules of Scrapbooking by Crystal Jeffrey Rieger and, perhaps the best one, Imperfect Lives: Scrapbooking the Reality of Your Everyday edited by Tara Governo.