![]() ![]() ![]() I think the true definition of popularity is the inclusion. ![]() Though at first it seems that changing the definition is somehow cheating the system, Van Wagenen makes it work - and she says that adults to whom she’s spoken about the topic, from her family to her editors, tend to think that teen social systems are a lot more rigid than they are in reality. It turns out that wearing weird clothes can actually help…as long as your definition of popularity is the same as hers, focused on having the most friends versus being at the top of the food chain. And her memoir becomes, like the book that inspired it, something of a teen popularity guide itself. Not all of the advice is the kind of stuff you’d expect to help a modern middle schooler - Van Wagenen had to wear long skirts to school, following the book’s advice, and the only eye makeup she was permitted was some Vaseline on her lids - but it’s hardly a spoiler to say that she learns some valuable lessons about social hierarchies. Her book, Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek (out April 15 from Dutton Children’s Books), tells the tale of her eighth grade year, during which she decided to follow advice from a 1950s popularity guide by teen model Betty Cornell and see where it got her. Maya Van Wagenen made news last fall when DreamWorks optioned her memoir - a big achievement for anyone, but more so for Van Wagenen, who turns 16 in June. ![]()
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