How Not to Be Popular

March 1, 2008
Gr 9 Up-Smarting from her recent breakup and on the road to Austin, TX, with her hippie parents who have decided, yet again, to relocate, Sugar Magnoliaknown as Maggiecrafts an extreme plan to avoid emotional pain the next time she has to move. Instead of endearing herself to the local popular cliquea technique she has perfected as part of her family's vagabond lifestyleshe decides to shun friendship and popularity in her new town. To that end, she comes to school in bizarre castoffs from her parents' thrift shop and forges a casual relationship with a group of school outcasts. When the success of a group project leads the teen to recognize her growing feelings of warmth toward those misfits, she has to decide whether or not to make a dramatic statement equivalent to social suicide. Ziegler's novel is fun but somewhat fantastic and concludes with a rather made-for-TV-movie school assembly scene. The book has heart, however, and cliché set pieces aside (Maggie's antifashion statements become school-wide trends and her success leads to the takedown of the queen bee cheerleader), it has a sweet story of friendship at its core. A low current of romance hums beneath the surface; that Ziegler's story does not conclude with a pat resolution of this tension adds an element of realism."Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2008
Growing up with roving, hippie parents, Sugar Magnolia Dempsey (Maggie) has never lived in one place for more than eight months. Shes tired of leaving friends (and boyfriends) behind, so when her parents announce another move, this timeto Austin, Texas, she vows to dodge heartbreak: If no one likes me and I dont like anyone, then I wont have anyone to lose. Reversing her usual tactics to join the in crowd, she begins Operation Avoid Friends, wearing bizarre outfits culled from her dads resale shop and joiningHelping Hands, a good-works club that attracts well-intentioned nerds. Ziegler brings a fresh, comedic sensibility toa familiar story of clique warfare and self-discovery byusingunforgettable supporting characters and Maggies first-person narration, which balances laugh-out-loud, sardonic commentary with earnest reflections that will directly connect with teens. Suggest this high-spirited, original twist on chick-lit formula romanceto fans of Dyan Sheldons Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (1999) and Jaclyn Moriartys The Year of Secret Assignments (2004).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2008
Maggie moves from school to school at her hippie parents' whim. She's an expert at insinuating herself into the upper echelons of high school hierarchy, but she's also tired and misses her boyfriend. This time she decides to remain invisible and unpopular, but of course her attempts backfire. Despite some reliance on high school stereotypes and melodrama, Maggie's story is warmly comedic.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)