The Popularity Papers #1: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (Volume 1) - Softcover

Ignatow, Amy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810997231 ISBN 13: 9780810997233

Publisher: Amulet Paperbacks, 2011

Synopsis

Lydia and Julie are best friends with one goal: to crack the code of popularity. Lydia’s the bold one: aspiring theater star, stick-fighting enthusiast, and human guinea pig. Julie’s the shy one: observer and artist, accidental field hockey jock, and faithful recorder. In this notebook they write down their observations and carry out experiments to try to determine what makes the popular girls tick. But somehow, the harder Lydia and Julie try to imitate the popular girls, the farther they get from their goal—and each other. Amy Ignatow understands friendship and the fifth grade, and she knows just how to wring humor out of ordinary and extraordinary moments.

About this title

About the Author

Amy Ignatow is a cartoonist and a graduate of Moore College of Art and Design, and she is very good at peeling oranges. She was in four musicals in high school and employed stealth and her wits to avoid being in any dance numbers. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Mark, and their cat, Mathilda, who is mostly very terrible.

From Booklist

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. Grades 3-6. --Andrew Medlar

About this edition

• Publisher: Amulet Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0810997231
• ISBN 13: 9780810997233
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208