Maya is a ‘Social Outcast’. She is at the bottom of her school’s hierarchy, awkward and shy. And then, one day, her father picks up a battered vintage book at a bookstore. Each chapter dictates a perfect way to pull off different aspects of being popular. Betty Cornell, the teenage author, has formed a guidebook that could save Maya’s life. The catch – it was written in the 1950s.

Maya decides to construct an experiment. For every month of the school year she will focus on the rules of each chapter and look at the reactions it will get. At the end of the year, Maya will decide if she has become popular. And hopefully, she will have found out its definition too.

The most striking and appealing thing about ‘Popular’ is that it is true; the plot is so clever and original that I wondered how it could be taken from life. Although the title suggests a perhaps shallow and boring book, the story was inspirational and brought a hidden meaning into the word popular. My only criticism would be the slightly irritating amount of Spanish translation. Other than that, I would recommend this book to any age.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!