Words of (Questionable) Wisdom from Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang

The Popularity Papers #3

by Amy Ignatow

After spending six months apart in Book Two, best friends Julie and Lydia are reunited at last! Julie has said good-bye to the mean girls, and Lydia is ready to apply her hard-earned friendship lessons to founding their own crew. But bad news interrupts their reunion: their friend Sukie’s mother, ill for many years, has passed away. This shakes Lydia and Julie, who reevaluate their goals and decide to focus more on being supportive of the friends they have. Unfortunately, their well-meaning schemes almost immediately start to go awry, and everyone seems to be mad at them for reasons beyond their control. How can they be better friends when no one seems to want to give them the chance? As always, Julie and Lydia’s hilarious back-and-forth notes form the backbone of the novel, in which Amy Ignatow reveals all-too-real truths about friendship and loyalty.

Genres: Middle Grade, Graphic Novels, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Childrens, Juvenile, Friendship

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I wasn't going to read this because I've already read the first two books in the series, and I have a lot of other books to get to, but I picked it up and I just couldn't resist. Somehow Amy Ignatow always manages to verbalize things in such a way that makes me go, "Yes. Yes, Amy. That is exactly how it is." If you're not going to read it, allow me to share my favorite passage in the whole book from page 162 about telling people secrets:

"If you happen to tell someone, don't tell someone who is in a romantic relationship, because people in relationships hang out with each other all the time and run out of things to say, so they have to tell their partner EVERYTHING just to keep from being bored."

ZING

[Liv Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! Second time reading it! <3

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked all of the characters, except the mean ones, and I liked the plot. I like how each book they are figuring out how to be popular but they learn important lessons in the end. I love Julie’s drawings. I love Lydia’s bad drawings. I love both their handwriting and how Lydia writes in cursive. I like the story they all write in the middle. I really liked Melody in this book. And Jen. I really enjoyed the ending where Lisa has actually been the ones covering the graffiti on the bathroom walls. Can’t wait to read the next one. I really like Julie’s dads. I also love Sukie throughout this book.

[Tracy The Great]

I think it was a good book and had a lot of creativity! I recommend this book to anybody who loves creativity in their books!!!!

[Elisa Coolio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this one and I love how there was a sort of mystery in this book about who wrote graffiti on the bathroom walls, and we finally found out at the end who was trying to cover up the graffiti. I liked how Julie and Lydia made friends that they would of never expected to be friends with. SUKIE IS THE MOST AMAZING FRIEND AND NOBODY CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE hehe

Yay,
Elisa

[Nho · Rating 5 out of 5]

After spending six months apart in Book Two, best friends Julie and Lydia are reunited at last! Julie has said good-bye to the mean girls, and Lydia is ready to apply her hard-earned friendship lessons to founding their own crew. But bad news interrupts their reunion: their friend Sukie’s mother, ill for many years, has passed away. This shakes Lydia and Julie, who reevalu
...more
After spending six months apart in Book Two, best friends Julie and Lydia are reunited at last! Julie has said good-bye to the mean girls, and Lydia is ready to apply her hard-earned friendship lessons to founding their own crew. But bad news interrupts their reunion: their friend Sukie’s mother, ill for many years, has passed away. This shakes Lydia and Julie, who reevaluate their goals and decide to focus more on being supportive of the friends they have. Unfortunately, their well-meaning schemes almost immediately start to go awry, and everyone seems to be mad at them for reasons beyond their control. How can they be better friends when no one seems to want to give them the chance? As always, Julie and Lydia’s hilarious back-and-forth notes form the backbone of the novel, in which Amy Ignatow reveals all-too-real truths about friendship and loyalty.
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[Kami Watanabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun book to read . I have not read a chapter book with pictures in a long time so that made it even more fun to read!!!!!!

[Gabbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about two girls who are in 6th grade and don't have many friends. The reason they don't have many friends because people don't like them at their school and they make people not like them. But through the year they make mistakes and make new friends and new enemies. A sad part in the story is on of the character moms died. Also through out the year they got bullied by the enemies. Although they had it rough through the year they made new friendships and renew some to.

Over all the book was great. I liked it because the girl were just trying to fit but the just keep making enemies. Also why I like this book because they never gave up on trying. I also like this book because it is a graphic novel a I like to read these type of books. This book is great and I recommend it to people who like graphic novels.

[Togidemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE FUCKIN COMIC COVER THEY SCANNED SENT ME CRASHING AND SCREAMING BACK TO MY OWN ADOLESCENCE AAAAAAA

Middle-school drama, man. I can't. Anyway, cute, as everything else is. I'm pretty sad Chuck Cavelleri's been reduced to such a far back background character - a trend that will only continue in succeeding installments - but, man. S'just like that at this age, really.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Both girls are back in high school in America. I don’t really care for this book because it somehow feels like filler. The best part of this book is the unpopular side characters. I don’t like this series in general despite some good individual entries, and this book is proof of that.

[Desianti Budiastuti · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is really funny,and I enjoy with the characters and the illustrated.the author describe the story feel very real friendship.

[Crystal Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC!!!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy these books. Two friends, Julie and Lydia, are trying to get through the school year and attempting to become part of the popular crowd. However, there are bumps along the way.

[ʙʀᴏᴏᴋʟʏɴ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relatable. Totally relatable. Just like they say,
Don't tell secrets to a person in a relationship secrets, they'll just spill it out when they ran out of things to say.

[Natalie (Natflix&Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
I've been slumping a bit lately, so I'm thankful for this series that's keeping my attention while being fun and easy.

[Jia ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

very goooooodddd!!!!!!!!!!!

[Carmina Beatriz Dizon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t have a lot to say except that the series still holds up even after two decades, and it’s so funny that I used to know people that are like the characters in the story!

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iconic books

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reunited after being separated for six months, best friends Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are ready to take sixth grade by storm. But some of Julie's actions while Lydia was away have earned her the enmity of the popular girl group, the Bichons, and the girls' original circle of friends, the Shih Tzus. When the mother of one of their friends dies, the two friends decide to change their priorities and quit worrying so much about what others think. But that's easier said than done, and as they work to fulfill the goals on their bucket list, they eventually realize that many of them are self-serving. As has been the case with this series all along, Julie and Lydia are imperfectly perfect, and their desire to fit in so palpable that middle grade girls will surely graviate to the book's pages. The romance with Jane and Roland is a perfect example of middle school angst. Because Jane is somewhat insecure, she forbids her boyfriend to have anything to do with Lydia and constantly asks him what he means when he utters the slightest comment. There are also bathroom scenes that will make readers laugh because of their silliness. But amid all this humor, kernels of truth and flashes of self-awareness lie hidden. This book would be a wonderful mentor text to teach voice since Julie and Lydia are quite different, and the author/illustrator uses different writing styles, font colors, handwriting, and art to make those differences apparent. As the title indicates, their wisdom may be questionable, but the hearts of these two are in the right place.

[Victoria Izzi]

In the book "Words of Questionable Wisdom" there is a lot of drama going on but overall it was a funny enjoyable book. After Lydia was gone for six months she has finally returned. Julie had missed her so much, but England changed Lydia's vocabulary a little bit but they just laugh. The problems the characters encountered were that the popular people were mad at Julie and Lydia attempted to help but failed. Also, their friend Sukie, lost her mother due to an illness. Julie is assigned a comic project but her partner doesn't do anything. So, Julie gets Lydia and Roland to help her and Roland talks about trolls and how they are a tradition in Norway. They create a killer comic book that is a hit. Unfortunately, a girl named Jane takes offense to the troll in the comic and says it looks like her. So the whole school catches on and most people get mad at Julie and Lydia. Julie, Julie´s project partner, Roland, and Lydia get called up to the office so their teacher knows who actually wrote the comic book. Julie does the right thing and tells the teacher her, Roland, and Lydia did the comic. Julie and Lydia try to make a bucket to help other people but it did not work, but in the end they made a new friend.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third volume of the Popularity Papers didn't quite live up to the previous books. Or maybe it was just me. Julie and Lydia seemed particularly naive this go 'round, and seem to have forgotten some of what they learned in the previous books, especially when it comes to friendship. At least Lydia and Julie are comfortable in their own skin, or overalls, as the case may be.

Unlike the first two books, there wasn't a central plot struggle (the lack of a descriptive title should have been a clue here), but instead there were several minor issues the girls had to deal with. But they learned a lesson or two along the way, and let's face it, the issues they did face are very real middle-school issues, ranging from issues with cliques and mean things written on bathroom walls, to misunderstandings with friends and the ever-complicated boy/girl issues.

As always, the artwork is fabulous. The shared journal is such a great format, and a very middle-school thing to do. Or at least it was. I passed a notebook back and forth with friends in junior high...do kids still do that? Or have they moved on to a higher-tech version?

[Nidos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first volume of the series like a year ago, found it sitting in my office's shelf. When I saw this book on sale in Periplus, I bought it right away, ignoring the fact that I haven't read its second volume.

This series contains doodles and letters of two elementary-schooled bestfriends, Lydia and Julie. Here they both wrote about everything that came their way. Their problems might seem unimportant that now I am twice their age, but still it rings true to me because I've been in their shoes. This time they're struggling to both accomplish their bucket--trunk--list, and keep up their position in social ladder. They're basically so not popular-kid material (if you know what I mean), but they tried so hard to become ones.

I barely remember the details in book one, but I could assure you that it's as good as this one. The background elements Ignatow put also added some value to how we see the stories--Lydia's Mom is a single parent, her sister is an emo girl; Julie's parents are all dads and multiracial; Roland came from Norway and so on.

Am so gonna complete my collection, so Periplus please have a lil more mercy on their price.

[Edward Creter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third outing in the Popularity Papers Universe has Lydia and Julie actually trying kindness on for size, and opting on humbleness OVER "popularity". Shocking? Sure! They reach out to an "unlovable" girl who is picked on by other schoolkids for dressing funny. How coolis that? The concept may have hidden Biblical links, and as usual in the publishing world, an author like Ms. Ignatow is blissfully IG-norant. "Be not as others who do things to be noticed, for verily I tell you, they have their reward, but do things in secret, and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly." Makes sense, huh? The one problem I find is when Julie tells Lyds how as a little girl, her two gay dads allowed her into the men's room to erase the guilt about doing things non-mainstream. To which I say: how sick can people get? Not to be mean, but even gay parents should know better than to objectify their own kids in this way. My personal opinion, of course; take it or leave it, however "main-stream" (LOL).

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book the main characters Lydia and Julie tried to become popular like in every other Popularity Papers book but this time they tried using a bucket list and it didn't turn out so well. Lydia went to go audition for the Music Man and she got a part. The part she received was a part that some one else had already. The director gave the part to Lydia of course but the whole cast was mad at Lydia and she got the nick name of "solo thief." Julie's problem was just as bad. Julie was helping someone with their comic book. The person who was supposed to be writing the comic book wasn't so Julie did all the writing and illustrating. After all her work she was accused of making Jane look like the enemy character Halvor from the comic book which wasn't even supposed to look like her. It was even worse because Jane is sort of their enemy. In conclusion Julie talks to the principal and Lydia plays her part.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of my girls read this series this year and I didn't really know much about it, so I decided to make it a for-sure read this summer. I get their appeal for my girls. Great pictures (much like Amelia's Notebook series), coupled with emails and letters written back and forth between two friends. Since I didn't read Book #1, I'm not sure how this was addressed, but I liked that one of the girls had two dads (but it didn't clobber you over the head with it - it was just their family unit), and the other girl had a mom and a very goth-looking older sister (who was quite normal under her outer layer). I'm glad that this year I will be able to have smarter conversations with students who choose this series, and we will spend a lot of time talking about all the inferring they are doing as they read.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lydia is back from her trip to England and is looking to reconnect with old friends. Julie is no problem, they are lifelong friends, but trying to fit back into an American high school after several months in England is hard. Both girls have problems. Lydia is a little too jealous of a crush's girlfriend and Julie is being pressured into giving a little too much help to a classmate in Art.

Again, author Ignatow understands the tween girl mind. Both characters make completely boneheaded mistakes and then have to work out how to deal with the consequences of those decisions. Ignatow twins this story with beautiful illustrations, make this more of a graphic novel than a straight out novel.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amy Ignatow is none-too-subtle about the messages she hopes to get across in all of the Popularity Papers books. Be yourself, Don't worry what others think, etc. Each of these are typically written in colored ink with exclamation marks and goofy drawings for further emphasis. Yet, her characters work because she does not try to make them more than the bundle of tween enthusiasm hurtling themselves into life. The drawings that accompany each page add an extra dash of wit and charm. This may not have the hijinx of Wimpy Kid, but they are sweet, funny books that would appeal to a wide range of kids.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this volume of the Popularity Papers but not quite as much as the Rocky Road Trip which was humorous but hard hitting. Words of (Questionable) Wisdom has Lydia returning to the U.S. in the middle of sixth grade and trying to reconnect with old friends. Since she and Julie have been friends forever they just pick up where they left off, however, it's not quite so easy a transition with her other.friends. Amy Ignatow does a great job of understanding how middle schoolers interact with each other. If you haven't checked out any of the books in this series I highly recommend that you do!

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lydia gets back from London! Their goal is to find a new crew but when something happens to Sukie's mom this helps Lydia and Julie determine that they want to do good for others. But as they try so hard everyone starts to hate them in reasons beyond their control so they try again and they decide to give clothes to the poor but it turns out that she didn't need clothes, she just chose to where them that way. They make anew friend by this and find out "who cares what people think about us, we can be ourselves and still have friends and enjoy the time we have to do so". I love this series so much and can't wait to read on.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this journal style of graphic novel. It works for me in ways that a more comic book style/traditional graphic novel has yet to do. This is another series that would have resonated deeply with my younger self. One of my students read the whole series last year and did a great book talk on this book. I love that it shows a deep and abiding friendship and that the characters have diverse types of families.