How to Be Popular (review)
2006; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 60; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2006.0696
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Cinema and Media Studies
ResumoReviewed by: How to Be Popular Deborah Stevenson Cabot, Meg How to Be Popular. HarperTempest, 2006288p Library ed. ISBN 0-06-088013-9$17.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-088012-0$16.99 Ad Gr. 6-9 Steph Landry is starting junior year in a small-town high school where social reputations have been set in stone for years; unfortunately for Steph, her reputation has been that of a heedless loser, with "pulling a Steph Landry" a school and town byword for an act of dorky cluelessness. Steph's determined to change that, however, with a new attitude, a new approach to style, and an old book—about half a century old—that maps the road to popularity. Her revamp goes so well that she's even garnering the attention of her crush, a hottie football player, and the uneasy respect of his girlfriend (the evil one who promulgated Steph's name as denigration in the first place), but why is it taking such a toll on her enduring friendship with next-door neighbor Jason? The book hints at some interesting elements of popularity but then dispenses with them, instead using its topic for predictable adult didacticism rather than originality or insight (popularity brings Steph only hollow glory and superficial connections who just want to use her, while it estranges her from her old friends). It's equally expectable that she ends up with Jason, though that's at least a classic formula element that romance fans will enjoy despite its inevitability. Readers will also appreciate the speedy and easily digestible storytelling, leavened with the frequent interpolation of rules from The Book and generous helpings of dialogue; there may additionally be some secret satisfaction in the notion that popularity isn't worth the getting, so those without it are better off as they are. Though Vail's You, Maybe (BCCB 6/06) is a more successful treatment of the same theme, this book may well achieve a level of popularity its heroine would envy. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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