Ignatow, Amy. The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang. New York: Amulet Books, 2010. Print.
Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are in their last year of elementary school before they get to junior high. Currently, their social status could use some improving, and the girls venture to understand what makes the popular girls, popular. Lydia cannot draw very well and writes in blue cursive, while the majority of the drawings are drawn by Julie. The girls learn the do's and don't's of boys, and even take on a new sport together. Their journal ultimately splits the girls apart, only to bring them back together again.
Electronic Resources:
Interacting with the Popularity Pages on Facebook
Here, the graphic novel, The Popularity Pages, has its own Facebook page that is guided by the author. Readers can follow her traveling as an author, and the traveling of The Popularity Pages.
Amy Ignatow's Blog
Here, readers and fans can further follow Amy Ignatow's traveling. Her blog is a bit more on the personal side than her Facebook, and readers may appreciate seeing this side of an author of such a popular book among youth.
Teaching Suggestions:
During Reading:
Encourage students to take note of the girls' behavior that leads them in disarray. Is one friend more wrong than the other? As they are making note of this, they should be gathering evidence in the text and graphics to support their thoughts.
Response to the Text:
Ask students to create their own mini-version of The Popularity Pages. Perhaps this can consist of three to four journal entries that comment on day to day activities that also include graphics to go along with the entries, similar to Amy Ignatow. Encourage students to think about how the graphics can help a reader become more engaged with the story and understand it better.
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