Why I Picked It Up: As this year’s Battle of the Books gets closer (next week!!!), I decided to start looking ahead to the 2015 Lone Star List and the 2016 Battle of the Books. As I scrolled down the list, this one stood out to me: Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek. It sounded so good! I love all things vintage and I especially loved the idea of vintage and modern paired together. After locating it in the ebook collection of our library, I got started.
Let me pause for just a second. I love having access to an ebook library. It allows me to actually find books instead of having to find my toddler running around the library. It allows me to avoid late fees because, when time is up, the book takes itself back to the library, allowing me to avoid having to choose between returning library books and taking a toddler home for a nap. I used to have a lot of late fees. However, ebooks lead me to situations like I found myself with this book.
Why I Finished It: I had no idea it was a memoir until I started reading it. It read just like a chick-lit book and I loved it! I started seeing actual photographs in the book though, and I got curious. Not curious enough, so I kept reading, thoroughly enjoying Maya’s description of the popularity scale at her school. Maya references a book by Betty Cornell published in the 1950s. I wondered if it was real and started doing my research. One thing led to another, and I discovered what most of the world probably already knew about this book just by looking at the back cover (lamentably not included with my ebook version) – it was a true story written by a 15-year-old girl. I already loved it, but this made me love it even more!
This is not a modern Cinderella story. I kept wondering if it would end with Maya becoming popular and living happily ever after. Instead, this book chronicles a year-long social experiment to see if vintage advice on popularity can make a difference in a modern high school. I so admire this young woman with the guts to wear “pilgrim shoes” and pearls to school. I see the true meaning of popularity woven among the entries as Maya tackles a new topic from Betty’s book each month, carrying over a few things each month as she finds something she likes. I love Maya’s voice as well. She is witty, well-spoken and honest, and I feel like I’m becoming one of her friends as I read about her 8th grade year.
Who I Would Give It To: Anyone who has ever had a crazy idea and run with it just to see what happens, anyone who might not be happy with where they fall on their school’s popularity scale, and definitely anyone who wants to write. There is inspiration galore in this book! (Also, anyone in 6th grade and up.)
Integration Ideas
Theme: Identity
Guiding Question: How is popularity determined? By whom is it determined?
Research
Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide is a real book! (You can find it on Amazon and you can also preview a few pages of it with Google Books.) Help provide students with a context for when this book was written. In her own time, Betty’s advice would have been quite well received but, some of selections from Betty’s book quoted by Maya in Popular and some of the things Maya does while following Betty’s advice will seem old-fashioned to today’s student. By providing images and contemporary texts, you can help students better understand the culture from which Betty’s book was born.
There are lots of great resources for finding historical images. Here are just a few:
- LIFE Photo Archive – This one is hosted by Google and I like it for more recent history. You can browse by decade, events, people or do a keyword search.
- Google Cultural Institute: Historic Moments – Though this includes the LIFE photos, it also includes many other types of artifacts from museums and organizations all over the world. There are collections that have been curated, along with informational text, but you can also assemble your own collections (with their own permalink) to share with your students.
- Library of Congress – I could get lost on this website with so many kinds of digital treasures. Photos, maps, documents, sound clips, movie clips – there is so much to explore. Check out this search for “fashion” narrowed by decade to 1950-1959. Particularly interesting to me are the photos of the 1950s models, of which Betty Cornell was one. Such a contrast to today’s models, which could lead to some great conversations!
The LOC also has a great resource for analyzing photographs and prints, which includes helpful prompts to encourage students to think more critically about what they are seeing: Teacher’s Guide.
Not an image, but pretty cool primary source (full-text of the book): Betty Cornell’s Glamour Guide for Teens
Communication and Collaboration
As a young author, Maya has a strong social media presence. In the same that Maya corresponds with Betty Cornell in her book to ask questions and learn more about her life, students can use social media to correspond with Maya. Have students think about questions they might want to ask – about her writing process, about the “characters” in her book, about the experiment, about Betty’s book.
I am definitely going to read this book and share it with teachers. I can see so many ways it could be used in the classroom or recommended to students. The fact that it doesn’t end with a Cinderella happily ever after makes it even more intriguing as we know life is generally about perspective. This could be a pathway for great analytical discussions.
It is such a good book! We’d love to hear how the teachers and students enjoy it! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
This book was one of the exiting books i have ever read and that means a lot coming from me because i don’t read a lot of books and this would be a perfect way to teach children how the world is harsh but beautiful and that taking a risk and humiliating your self is better then lifing a boring life
Such a great point! That is a powerful message to send to students. Thank you.
I have just recently finished reading Popular and I loved it! I’m in 7th grade and this really showed me the true meaning of being popular. I am taking a test, and in your opinion, what is the theme of this story? Hope you can answer my question!
We’re so glad that you enjoyed reading Popular. When you think about the theme, ask yourself what important lesson did Maya learn about her identity? What message is being sent to the ready about identity and what is important? Hope this helps!