The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow

I love this book!  I read it twice in two days!  The story and illustrations (pen and ink and colored pencil) are wonderful in this sweet tale of the friendship between two girls in the fifth grade.  The subtitle is: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (the two protagonists).  It has great characters and laugh-out-loud humor and poignant storylines.  The format is a "dialogue" between the two girls in their own handwriting that share their triumphs and failures in their pursuit of popularity at school.  There are also TWO sequels: The Popularity Papers: The Long Dispatch Between... (where one friend moves away) and The Popularity Papers: The Rocky Road Trip of... (where the friends go on a summer break adventure).  And they include gay dads! What more could you ask for? (Ages 8-12)

Reviewed by Darrell Scheidegger from Books Inc. Market St.