The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow

Summary from Amazon:

Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are best friends with one goal: to crack the code of popularity. Lydia’s the bold one: aspiring theater star, stick-fighting enthusiast, human guinea pig. Julie’s the shy one: observer and artist, accidental field hockey star, 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, when Lydia and Julie try to imitate the popular girls, their efforts don’t translate into instant popularity. Lydia ends up with a bald spot, their parents won’t stop yelling, and Julie finds herself the number-one crush of Roland Asbjørnsen. Worse, they seem to be drifting farther and farther from their goal—and each other. Amy Ignatow’s hilarious debut novel introduces the intrepid fifth-graders Julie and Lydia, whose quest to understand popularity may not succeed in the ways they want, but will succeed in keeping readers in stitches.

I enjoyed this book. I was in a book slump where nothing was really grabbing my attention. This is probably due to the fact that I have been in boogie fever and enjoying the outdoors, but I usually can always find something to read. Anyways, this is not my type of book that I sit down with and enjoy. However, I read this in one sitting while watching my children play outside. This book goes through the typical thoughts(yes, I am generalizing here) of a middle school student. Trying to find that niche to make themselves stand out. This book hits upon those issues, along with best friends, best friends fighting, becoming best friends again. Additionally, some of the things they do are typical decisions of middle school. That whole irrational, do before thinking mentality will really appeal to readers. I loved the artwork and the whole feel to the novel with actual pen writing. This book will be loved by the intended audience of 9-13 year old girls. More importantly, I had my moment. I have been struggling with how I am going to approach writing my book and this book gave me that "A-HA" moment. My whole concept to my book hit me while reading this book so I give much credit to the authors/illustrators for this book because it has helped me.

All in all, this is a fun, light hearted read that will meet the approval of middle school students. Check it out and enjoy the artwork and storyline.