Popular

Title: Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

Author: Maya Van Wagenen

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: April 15th, 2014

Length: 272 pages

Genre: Autobiographical Memoir

Format and Source: Paperback, from Penguin NZ

Summary from Goodreads: [This will be spoiler free, but the actual review below will not]. Stuck at the bottom of the social ladder at pretty much the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be here,” Maya Van Wagenen decided to begin a unique social experiment: spend the school year following a 1950s popularity guide, written by former teen model Betty Cornell. Can curlers, girdles, Vaseline, and a strand of pearls help Maya on her quest to be popular?
The real-life results are painful, funny, and include a wonderful and unexpected surprise—meeting and befriending Betty Cornell herself. Told with humor and grace, Maya’s journey offers readers of all ages a thoroughly contemporary example of kindness and self-confidence.

Review: [Reminder: Spoilers]. I was offered this book for free as part of a promotion Penguin NZ is running, and at first I wasn’t going to choose it. Memoirs aren’t my cup of tea, and I tend to shy away from them. While they have genuine character and often make good reads, I find them difficult to relate with; which is why Popular was such a pleasant surprise.

What sets this memoir apart from others I’ve read is Maya’s fresh and unique voice. Only thirteen years old when she started her social experiment, Maya keeps the memoir interesting through her wit, bravery and honesty. The way Maya writes is captivating. Her accounts of the events that took place at her school are told in a way that keep you hooked. It’s a very quick read and can be finished in one sitting.

Essentially, this book is portraying Maya’s courage in going through with this experiment. A lot of the pointers from Betty Cornell’s book, while completely sound in the 50s, sound insane in modern society, but Maya followed all of them. It’s a source of amusement, such as when Maya asks her mother to buy her a girdle, but at the same time is extremely relatable. It deals with death, social hierarchy, and the kindness required when overcoming the latter.

Maya isn’t an extraordinary girl – she’s a regular girl living in a place where drug dogs are the norm and lockdowns aren’t unexpected. She has a crush on a boy from her church, struggles with shyness, and faces ridiculing from her peers. The aim of her experiment was to see if she could define popularity, and then become popular.

Personally, it was watching the entire school change with Maya that made the book so special. Maya’s school is clearly segregated into different social standings, and interacting out of your own group is almost taboo. In fact, in the first few pages, Maya illustrates the social ladder; which goes from -3 to 10. Maya rates herself a -1. What’s really interesting is how Maya challenges this social hierarchy, determined to climb to a level 10 by the end of the year.

She does discover the secret to popularity by the end of the book; her final popularity tip goes as follows, “Popularity is more than looks. It’s not clothes, hair, or even possessions. When we let go of these labels, we see how flimsy and relative they actually are. Real popularity is kindness and acceptance. It is about who you are, and how you treat others.” She goes on to say, “All the times that I felt popular were because I had reached out to other people. I remember helping Isabella on the choir trip, Valentine’s Day, sitting at all the different lunch tables, and the prom. If we forget that connection, we forget what it truly means to be popular.”

Maya is a very brave young girl. The feats she accomplished are to be marvelled at, and to be encouraged in many readers. The fact that she talked to people of all social statuses within her school despite her shyness proves how courageous she really is. This book was a pleasure to read, and it can actually be applied to human nature; very perceptive of a fifteen year old.

Final Rating: A-. This is the highest rating I’ve given yet, but Popular is deserving of it. Despite being a memoir (which I generally find a bore), this book catches you hook line and sinker, and pulls you in for the ride. I’ve already ranted about this to people at school and convinced them to read it, and I urge you to do the same. Not only is it entirely captivating, but it gives you an insight on how people react to out-of-the-ordinary acts. I found that it was extremely well written, and it’s a book I will find myself rereading soon.

Purchase From: Amazon Book Depository Barnes and Noble
And if you wish to read Betty Cornell's guide: Amazon Book Depository Barnes and Noble