SUPER EXCELLENT!!! Popularity Papers; Words of (questionable) Wisdom...

This was my favourite from the series:
#3.

Just when I thought that kids fiction was getting a bit predictable and boring, along comes Amy Ignatow to show me a new face of children's literature.

MOM'S TAKE NOTE: Amy Ignatow's Popularity Papers shine like a beacon of creativity and fun. These books are unlike anything I have ever seen or read, and I am raving about them to everyone that will listen. If you have girls ages 8-12, these are a must read!

On with my book review of the Popularity Papers:

A few weeks before Christmas, I came across Amy Ignatow's Popularity Papers at VV, and I was fascinated by the colourful cover. Being entirely illustrated by hand, and the narrative being hand written dialogue between two twelve year old best friends.  Julie Graham-Chang is a budding illustrator, so she draws all the pictures to illustrate the narrative. Lydia Goldblatt is her spunky friend who tries out new things, gets into pickles and generally is a scream.

They see eye to eye on most things and enjoy similarly quirky humour.  They are totally honest with each other and are a refreshing couple of girls. At times, they see themselves as outsiders to the mainstream school population, but they have each other, and as such, they encourage and maintain each other's unique personalities.

My Daughter and I now have a
Trunk List too!!!

There are currently 6 novels that make up this series, and when I bought Popularity Papers #3: I didn't realize that I was starting in the middle of the series.  Didn't make much difference though, as each novel is a stand alone snapshot of Lydia and Julie's antics. I have since read them all, (out of order too), and I can whole-heartedly recommend these books for any girl ages 8-12. I'm going to admit that I loved reading these books too, and found myself laughing hysterically in my bed at Julie and Lydia's antics. At times, I feared I was laughing too loud and would wake the kids.

Amy Ignatow is incredibly talented. She not afraid of difficult subjects and describes that from the perspective of a twelve year old girl. She shows Julie and Lydia supporting and encouraging each other through these life experiences. There are moments of true tenderness and and insight from a girls perspective.

Turns out Jen Mattocks is the Doctor's
daughter!

There are belly laugh moments, like the one here about Jen Mattocks.

It's a Beautiful Thing to be 12 and
full of Sunny Hope.

Amy Ignatow's Facebook page is a bit of fun and worth checking out:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Popularity-Papers/212256315882?id=212256315882&sk=photos_stream