Author: Jennifer Ziegler
Release Date: March 9, 2010 (paperback, first published January 8, 2008)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 339
Source: Borrowed From Library
Overall: 4 Stars
Summary:
Maggie Dempsey is tired of moving all over the country. Her parents are second-generation hippies who uproot her every year or so to move to a new city. When Maggie was younger, she thought it was fun and adventurous. Now that she's a teenager, she hates it. When she moved after her freshman year, she left behind good friends, a great school, and a real feeling of belonging. When she moved her sophomore year, she left behind a boyfriend, too. Now that they've moved to Austin, she knows better. She's not going to make friends. She's not going to fit in. Anything to prevent her from liking this new place and them from liking her. Only . . . things don't go exactly as planned.
My Thoughts:
How Not To Be Popular is pure, fun entertainment filled with plenty of laugh out-loud moments and a storyline that will endear protagonist Maggie to readers on the spot. When I was midway through and had to stop to continue later, I kept thinking back to the novel and a smile would break out on my face as I remembered a particular scene. Seriously, this novel should come with a warning sign on it that says, "Beware: This novel will make you randomly smile and laugh when you're not reading it."
Seventeen year-old Maggie Dempsey is sick of moving all over the country with her free-spirited hippie parents, Les and Rosie. It was fun when she was younger, but now she doesn't want to say goodbye anymore, especially since this time she's leaving behind a best friend and boyfriend. So when her family moves to Austin, Texas, Maggie creates a plan to stop herself from becoming attached to those who will only hurt her when she has to move away once again. Her plan? Becoming unpopular and acting as weird as possible so no one will dare like a loser like her and try to be friends. The only thing is... she didn't expect the plan to backfire.
How Not To Be Popular had me laughing so hard at some points, I had to momentarily put the book down until I could continue reading it again once I got a hold of myself. It's been awhile since a novel has made me done that! I mean, in most novels, when kids move to new schools, they often try to join the popular cliques that dominate the school but here we have the exact opposite!
Maggie is hilarious! She may be seventeen, but the way she acts and thinks sometimes would beg to differ. A lot of her plan does revolve around wearing some pretty crazy outfits that would make her stick out like a sore thumb and bringing out her geekier side... and despite her best efforts, she begins to become friends with people she would never have even given a second look before. It was heartwarming to see her look beyond appearances. As for her parents, they were adorable, loving and sometime even outrageous, but at the same time, oh my goodness, they could be so embarrassing! It only cued another bout of laughter.
While the novel does provide a lot of comic relief, at the heart of the story we have a girl who's afraid to put herself out there for others anymore and just doesn't want to get hurt again. And Maggie's going to learn that friends can be even the most unlikely of people that she never once expected. If you're looking for a funny, laugh-out-read that will pass the time with a smile, I would definitely recommend How Not To Be Popular!
