Maya Van Wagenen

Documents a high school student's year-long attempt to change her social status from that of a misfit to a member of the "in" crowd by following advice in a 1950s popularity guide, an experiment that triggered embarrassment, humor and unexpected surprises. A first book.

Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

Popular a Memoir

Erzse Reed

Documents a high schooler's year-long attempt to change her social status from misfit to member of the "in" crowd by following advice in a 1950s popularity guide, an experiment that triggered embarrassment, humor, and surprises.

How a Geek in Pearls Discovered the Secret to Confidence

alexandra

i really enjoyed this novel and watching maya experiment/grow was so much fun. full review to come! (:

Jeannette Ordas

A charming book about a teenager who pushed herself to follow the rules from a 1950s popularity teen guidebook. I admired her spunk and her family and the daily crazy differences living of in a Texas-Mexico border town. Golly!

Sierra Nguyen

Reading about Maya's journey of becoming popular in her middle school has taught me a lot about what popularity really means. Her personal growth as a teenager has reflected beautifully throughout the book as she tried to work on her outlook, take care of herself, and feel more confident in her social circle of friends/strangers at school. 

I love it when Maya put herself out of her comfort zone and blended herself into different groups of people at school, to understand that there were other people who were even shyer than her, to find out that even the most popular kids didn't think they were popular, to realize that the time when she was most close to popularity was when she was living her kindest heart and accepting people for who they were. 

After all, "Popularity is more than looks. It's not clothes, hair, or even possessions. When we let go of these labels, we see how flimsy and relative they actually are. Real popularity is kindness and acceptance. It is about who you are, and how you treat others" (Maya). 

"This year I was laughed at, I was praised. I was ridiculed, I was complimented. I was left out, I was included. But through it all, I was fortunate enough to learn and experience the real definition of that all-elusive world.
I, Maya Van Wagenen, became popular."

Amanda Kordeliski

This was a fantastic read and just highlights what a difficult decision the YALSA nonfiction committee had this year. I have read 3 of the 5 finalist and could support any of the three for the medal. 

An impressive memoir, made even more impressive when you have the knowledge that the author is only 15. Highly recommended for middle and high schools everywhere. The audio is also excellent.

Danica Holdaway

A very cute, easy, read about popularity and friendship. Great for all ages - but especially teens!

Elad Schulman

Going into this book, I expected to learn a few things, being close to the same age as her. That, however, didn't happen. Nonetheless, I still laughed, and enjoyed the book. It made me smile, and I liked the weaving of pictures, and quotes from the book Maya used. This book was a nice and easy book to read.

A true story 'School is the armpit of life - and my school is no exception.' From hair-dos and girdles to pearls and posture, Maya does whatever Betty says - no matter how difficult or embarrassing. When Maya Van Wagenen finds a 1950s Guide to Popularity she embarks on a unique social experiment: for one school year she follows the advice of its author, teen model Betty Cornell. She's determined to see her experiment through, for better or worse. Does it work? You decide. A touchingly honest and candidly hysterical memoir from one of Time's most influential teens of 2013. 'The real deal . . . a teenage John Green for the next generation. Stunning.' Margaret Stohl, bestselling co-author of Beautiful Creatures

Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek : a Memoir

 Bruna Acioly Leão

When I was in high school, I wanted to be popular. I was never really bullied or anything, but I had zero confidence in who I was or what I wanted. But I knew that I wanted to be popular, to be loved. That didn’t work out; I could never talk to strangers nor did I make that many friends during that time. I didn’t realize that being popular had a lot less to do with being “famous” and recognized by everyone (which I sometimes was) and a lot more to do with having true friends (which I not always had).

Like Maya, I even tried popularity guides I could find, but eventually I would abandon them and return to my introverted, flip-flop wearing self (my life changed when I switched from flip-flops to ballet flats, no joke). I didn’t wear makeup or nail polish nor did I shape my eyebrows until I was 20 years old (that’s around the time I discovered beauty gurus). Also, my clothes were always untidy and a bit too loose. Basically, I was a mess. But when I fell in love with makeup and nails (because of all the pretty colors and possibilities), I grew out of my shell and started to feel a lot more confident. I cared more about my grooming, and I placed myself better in the world.

People say your outside beauty doesn’t matter, but I found that when you feel good about your outside, your inside shines through. Or at least it helps a little bit.

I am still a hardcore introverted; I prefer to be alone rather than anywhere else and I don’t express myself very well verbally (as in talking out loud). But I got a lot better. Going to med school and having interactions with strangers on a daily basis also helped. 

What I’m trying to state with this introduction is how much I related to and understood the things that were going on with Maya and her friends on this book. I could definitely see myself in a lot of the situations she describes, especially the ones when she feels excluded from the groups, and unsure of where to place herself. This was a very poignant read.

The book doesn’t feel like non-fiction or even a memoir. It reads like a novel, or a diary, and right from the beginning you will think Maya is a friend, telling you her story. The writing is very entertaining and engaging. There’s a lot about her family life as well as pictures, which really enhance the experience. It feels like you are truly getting to know her. And it is not just about being popular or following quirky 1950’s advices. Maya’s life doesn’t revolve solely on her appearance or school status. She has to deal with her family’s money difficulties, with moving to new places all the time and with living close to the Mexican border, drug busts at her school, and her favorite teacher not being around anymore. Also, some things from Cornell’s book are outdated or just downright ridiculous for our time, but Maya does them anyway, for the sake of her experiment. Needless to say, the reactions she gets from people aren’t always what she expects.

However, I would say the writing is more middle grade than young adult. The author is fairly young; she wrote this and conducted the experiment in 2012 when she was 13. Sometimes, her experiences feel a little sugar coated and too easily resolved, which is probably also due to editing. I assume they would want the book to have an overall positive message, especially for young kids who are struggling with social situations. Maya sounds a little too good sometimes, in the way that she is always starting up conversations and trying to include everyone. This didn’t take too much away from my enjoyment of the book, but I thought it was important to point out.

Overall, I really liked it, it was funny and super quick to read! It even make me cry at some points, which I was so not expecting. I can cry with really silly things though, so don’t take this to mean this is sad book, because it is really very optimistic.


See review at: http://brunawrites.tumblr.com/post/10...

Popular a Memoir Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

Reviews