The Queen of Teen has done it once again.
How to be Popular by Meg Cabot is a cute YA story of a young lady who was tired of being picked on all because five years prior she happened to spill a Big Gulp on the popular girl. Every since, if anyone did anything stupid, it was known as ‘pulling a Steph Landry.’ Well, not her Junior year, Steph was going to take her life back, and be Popular!
Stephanie Landry happened to find a book that had been up in the attic from her soon-to-be step-grandmother, who was very popular in her day. Steph figured that if it worked for Kitty, it should work for her. And it seemed to help! That is, until she refused to suck up to popular Lauren and told her off!
What I enjoyed about this book was the fact that Meg Cabot took the concept of popularity, had some wonderful tips (for just being a GREAT and nice person – which all kids should follow) sprinkled throughout and had her main character figure out what exactly it means to be popular. Stephanie Landry gained confidence from the book she read and tried to apply the concepts of the book into daily life. The book only covers one week – the first week of school, but has Steph cover much more in that one week.
Stephanie Landry was a strong character and this is definitely a book I would recommend to any young lady who feels like she is a little bit on the outside of the circle. Meg Cabot lets her readers know that it is okay to be on the outside, as long as she is being the best person she can be! It was fun and typical, but I enjoyed the message behind it. ‘How to be Popular’ is one of those feel-good stories that you could definitely see being made into a teen movie with a moral. I didn’t realize that this was written in 2006...saw it on the book shelf at the library and thought I’d give it a go... and glad that I did.
4 Stars!
