I am thrilled to have fellow blogger and mom Freya Hooper guest posting with me today. Freya is the author of the blog One Great Book and you can visit her HERE at www.onegreatbook.com. Recently, I was sharing with Freya the challenges I have in finding age appropriate books my tween girl. As challenging as it can be to find age appropriate clothes, shoes and beauty products for tweens just as challenging is the task to find books that captivate these young readers that are also age appropriate. What I love about Freya is she does all the research for us. I don’t have time to read each book that my tween wants to read. Freya personally reads the books she reviews and delivers honest reviews from the perspective of a mom for kids of all ages. Thank you Freya!
Meet Freya, she’s fantastic:
I am a mom of three with a passion for literature! No matter what book series our kids devour, as they come to an end, we as parents ask the inevitable question – what is next? I am ever on the job, trying to answer that question. I try to do it with a variety of books. Some are silly, some true to life, some pure fantasy, but in the end I hope they make my children love words, explore new ideas, and laugh! Please visit my blog at www.onegreatbook.com for inspired book choices for kids from Preschool through Grade Eight.
Don’t you want to sit down and have coffee with her?
Read on for what Freya has to say about New York Times Bestseller, Popular.
I had so much fun with the book I am profiling today. I love the idea of following advice from another era in the modern day and I think it is inspirational for kids to see a book written by a fifteen year old girl. I have included an interview with the actual Maya at the end of the post, so make sure to watch, she really is lovely.
Title: Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
Author: Maya Van Wagenen
Target: Grades 6 and up
Series: No
What this book is about:
Maya (who is an actual person) is in eighth grade and not very popular – in fact her group ranks only above teachers and substitute teachers! However, she finds an old book in her dad’s office, Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide and her mom suggests she follow the advice and see what happens. This book is a chronicle by month of how each chapter in Betty’s book turns out for Maya and the truths she learns about herself.
Why I love this book:
How great is it that this book is written by an actual fifteen year old? She keeps her experiment a secret so that she can document the actual reactions she gets to the changes she makes. She follows Betty’s advice which includes wearing a girdle, panty hose and gloves. This advice leads to some harsh comments, but Maya perseveres. However, the greatest lessons she learns are about kindness and inclusion. She finds she can be popular, but not quite in the way she expected.
I adored the actual photographs of Maya throughout the book. They made her efforts seem all the more real. Without a doubt it felt like the real voice of a middle school student.
Who this book is for:
Great for most girls. This book is set in middle school, so be prepared for a sex ed class and drug sniffing dogs (she lives in a Mexican border town), but Maya herself is a very smart girl and a wonderful role model.
Final thoughts:
I would have loved this coming of age book documenting the life of an actual eighth grader when I was young. The nostalgia of following Betty’s book just made it all the more fun.
To purchase this book:
Click on the following link to connect to One Great Book : Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
Do take the time to watch Maya on the Today Show, HERE, you will be happy you did! I find Maya to be inspiring not only to tweens and teens but to adults as well! You may want to even share this with you daughter as there is a movie deal in the making I hear!
Ok, so I want to read this book when my daughter is done with it! How fun is Maya? What a great role model she is for young girls today!
For more great book reviews, you will love Freya’s site www.onegreatbook.com and thanks for stopping by today!
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XOXO
Suzanne
[…] Many of you have met fellow blogger Freya Hooper who guest posted in October on ASB here. […]