Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

OK, so when I started hearing buzz about this I didn't realize that the author is currently 15 years old? I knew the gimmick was about a girl who used an old 50s “Guide to Popularity” to try to give herself a personality makeover, but for some reason I assumed it was written by someone who like, grew up in the 90s or 00s, found the 50s book, and then wrote this memoir about this years later? But no, it's ~fresh.~ I think that will make a huge difference in selling it to teens & tweens!!

Anyway, it's a really fun and funny read, with some actual good advice–mostly that pretty much everyone feels shy and awkward sometimes and might be waiting for someone else to make the first move. But Maya also doesn't hold back on writing about times when following this 50s advice got her teased. Interwoven with the popularity stuff are some pretty moving moments involving a beloved teacher's death from cancer, her younger sister, who has autism, and memories of her other younger sister, who tragically died before the timespan of this memoir.

Smart, funny, and relatable. I also think this is a great one for adults who work with kids but don't have kids to read for its portrayal of high school life–how, at least, at Maya's school, some things (cafeteria table claiming) seem about the same as we remember, but others (lockdown drills) are a liiiittle different.