How Not To Be Popular

Maggie Dempsey's parents uproot her every few months to move to a new state, and Maggie is tired of it. Her parents are hippies, and insist she call them by their first name. When she was younger, she used to think that moving every few months was adventurous; fun, even. But now that she's older and has friends, she hates it.

After moving when her freshman year is over, she is forced to leave behind friends, her school and the one of the only places she ever felt she belonged. When she moved the next year, she left her boyfriend, Trevor. She's now suffering from a broken heart-and moving to Austin, Texas. And this time she's determined not to make any friends, and has decided she's not even going to attempt to fit it.

But once she gets to her new school, her plan of not fitting in, not becoming popular and not falling for the cute boy who won't leave her alone, turns out harder than she expected. Instead of trying to make friends, she insits on dressing like a complete geek in Laura Ingalls inspired floral print dresses with flowered swim caps, and janitor jumpsuits. And let's not forget that none of her oufits are complete without her tin Star-Trek lunch box. Maggie says everything wrong at all the wrong times, and anything else that will prevent her from liking Austin. She'll do anything that will prevent the people in Austin from liking her. She figures doing all this will make it that much easier to leave.

But things don't seem to go exactly as Maggie planned. Penny, one of the school's misfits befriends her, even though Maggie does everthing in her power to get the girl to stay away. And Maggie can't help to feel something for that boy that talked to her on her first day. She never imagined being unpopular could be so hard.

Jennifer Ziegler did a fantasic job of capturing all of Maggie Dempsey's feelings and emotions in "How Not to be Popular". It's sure to keep you turning pages and is described as, "Zippy and full of wit", and "Engaging, touching, and full of laughs," By Rob Thomas, the creator of Veronica Mars. Kate Brian, the creator of the Private series says, "How Not to Be Popular will make readers rethink what the word 'popularity' really means."

How Not To Be Popular really showed readers that popularity isn't always about looks, it's about what's on the inside that counts. It describes the tale of a young girl desperate to live a normal life, and how she manages the hectic one she ended up with. Once you pick up this book, it is guaranteed you won't be able to put it down.