Both the song and the book focus on making a plan to become popular (side note to any students currently taking my reading class-this is the kind of connections across multiple texts we are trying to do this marking period), and both have the underlying unspoken assumption that being popular is the best thing to be. The question is, do both of these texts view being popular as the best thing to be by throughout the entirety of the story?
The Popularity Papers is a journal written by two fifth graders, Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang, who are researching how to become popular so that they can be in the cool crowd by middle school. I loved the format of this book. Each girl has a different font so you can easily see who wrote what-I instantly felt drawn back to my own note passing days (which for my current students who are reading just know that they were very limited and never while the teacher was talking). Ignatow effortlessly captures the friendship shared by two girls who are BFF's. Not being a boy I have no idea how they would feel about this book, or if they could connect to the two main characters, but it is ridiculous to assume that boys don't face the same popularity pressures and that they wouldn't like this book just because it's about girls.Besides the handwritten fonts the book is filled with drawings by Julie and Lydia, that compliment whatever they happen to be talking about. The Popularity Papers addresses real issues head on, but in a lighthearted way. That being said, this book is just fun. It's never one that I would use in class, and my 8th grade students may have outgrown it-but for 5th to even some 7th grade students this is a fun, easy, relate-able read. This is also the first book in a series, so if you are looking for enjoyable, stress-free, easy reads (which can often be the best kind of reads) check out the whole series.
Research with your friends...that's kids stuff.
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