Popular: How a Geek in Pearls Discovered the Secret to Confidence

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE YALSA AWARD • In this touchingly honest contemporary memoir, a middle-schooler entering high school firmly decides to become—wait for it—popular.

“Maya’s voice is fresh and frank, and her experiences at a middle school near the Mexican border provide an often overlooked perspective.”—Booklist

“Funny, determined, and wry.”—Rachel Hartman, bestselling author of Seraphina

Can curlers, girdles, Vaseline, and a strand of pearls help a shy girl become popular?

Maya Van Wagenen is about to find out.

Stuck near the bottom of the social ladder at “pretty much the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be here,” Maya has never been popular. But before starting eighth grade, she decides to begin a unique social experiment: spend the school year following a 1950s popularity guide, written by former teen model Betty Cornell. The real-life results are hilarious, painful, and filled with unexpected surprises—but through it all, Maya’s positive approach helps her to reveal a new understanding of self-confidence, kindness, and acceptance.

Maya Van Wagenen is sixteen years old. When she was eleven, her family moved to Brownsville, Texas, the setting of Popular. When not hunched over a desktop writing, Maya enjoys reading, British television, and chocolate. She now lives with her parents and two siblings in rural Georgia. She is a junior in high school.