Day 20: The Popularity Papers: The Long Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham- Chang by Amy Ignatow

This is the second book about Lydia and Julie. In the first Popularity Papers book, Lydia and Julie are determined to find out what makes the popular crowd popular so when they start middle school they will know what to do. The friends keep a journal full of drawings and instructions of what they learned by watching the in crowd. They end up having some mishaps and fights along the way. In the end the best friends find that they can be themselves and follow what they are interested in and they will find friends and that the love and support they have for each other is special. In this book, Lydia’s mom announces that the family will be moving to London for the year. Lydia is devastated that all of their hard work from the previous year will be a wasted because she will not be starting middle school with Julie. The friends decide to keep their journal going online and Lydia will try and put the lessons to work in London, Julie’s job is to get the lay of the land in middle school so when Lydia comes home they will be popular. Again lots of mishaps, misunderstanding and laughs happen along the way. The Popularity Papers books don’t break new ground with the story or the message. In the end Lydia and Julie learn that being themselves is always the best and good friends are more important than being popular. This is a common theme in middle grade novels for girls. What I do like about these books is the journal format. The illustrations are funny and creative and add a lot to the story. Students who are not big readers love this book and I know they will be excited to read this installment.