Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek in Our Shared Shelf

Aug 14, 2014 Lacey Louwagie rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir, youngadult, 100-book-challenge-2014

I'm a sucker for little experiments in changing your life -- "my year of doing " memoirs always seem to catch my eye, and I'm prone to doing such experiments in my own life, too. I've tried the Complaint-Free Life Challenge, 100 Happy Days, and various other "life-changing," consciousness-raising experiences. I think these are all tools to bring us greater awareness about ourselves and our lives, although to call them life changing might be a bit of a stretch.

This book was very well-written, and I'm a sucker for little experiments in changing your life -- "my year of doing " memoirs always seem to catch my eye, and I'm prone to doing such experiments in my own life, too. I've tried the Complaint-Free Life Challenge, 100 Happy Days, and various other "life-changing," consciousness-raising experiences. I think these are all tools to bring us greater awareness about ourselves and our lives, although to call them life changing might be a bit of a stretch.

This book was very well-written, and I have a feeling it was probably heavily edited to bring it to that point. Although it is written as a journal, it is also written in present tense -- and this doesn't seem like a literary device many 14-year-olds would use in their own journals. There is also a stronger narrative arc and greater detail than I think would have occurred naturally. But although editing may have made this book somewhat less "authentic," it's very easy to read, and that's a fair trade-off.

I was surprised by how truly isolated Maya was at the beginning of this book, and she experiences the dramatic ups-and-downs that are typical of junior high, with the one difference being that she is contextualizing them through the lens of her social experiment. I have to give her props for her bravery -- especially in the chapter where she follows fashion advice from the fifties. I also admire that she managed not to tell anyone about the experiment -- when I did my "deviance project" for just one week back in college, it was hard for me not to tell people who knew me what was going on. Also, I felt like her best friend really wasn't that good of a friend at all, but maybe that has to do with the way the audiobook reader interpreted her.

The book was a little sickening in places -- I had to roll my eyes at how superficial a lot of the advice from the fifties was, and I could have done without some of Maya's self-deprecation, too. But overall, it's an interesting project that lends itself to an interesting book. ...more

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Nov 18, 2014 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: biography_and_memoir, tweens_and_teens

This was a little too edited and smooth (which was mentioned in the appreciation section), but it was kind of amazing reading about this girl transforming herself. It got a little heavy handed as she neared completion, but it kind of reminded me of when I was in ninth grade, and we moved to a new school, and I had the chance to start over. It was hard, but good. Maya had some crazy adventures, and it sounds like her family is a bit quirky, so it works for her. I'd LOVE to see it as a movie or tv ...more

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Mar 02, 2015 Adriel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, ya, nonfiction

This is an incredibly sweet, upbeat story of a young girl who decides to change her life. She is eloquent, funny, and has managed to tell an amusing story of life in the eighth grade while also shining a little light on the somewhat tragic state of violence in poor communities, and drugs in school. She is certainly an author worth watching.

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Mar 04, 2016 Etchison rated it really liked it

How cute!! I really enjoyed reading this. Maya Van Wagenan has a great voice and I felt like her experience spoke to the realities of middle school, and also to my own very awkward self growing up.

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Feb 16, 2015 Lindi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: about-writing, young-adult, non-fiction, funny

I loved Popular! Maya's voice is so fresh and authentic, the situations ring true, and the bottom line -- do the hard thing and talk to people -- is always welcome. ...more

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