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The Popularity Code
Mean Girls meets The Clique in this relatable M!X novel that tackles the effects of online bullying.
Faith Taylor is popular by association, thanks to her BFFs, Adria and Janelle. When a new website called SlamBook targets her school’s popular kids, Faith gets sucked in. And when she discovers her own page on the site, she finds herself obsessing over the comments people are posting about her. Some are good, some are…not so good. Faith becomes determined to match the negative comments to the people, and begins to retaliate by posting negative comments of her own.
Soon, Faith finds that people are talking about the comments she’s leaving. Even though she does feel guilty, it’s just so easy to be mean behind the anonymity of her laptop. But when her comments go too far, she realizes she must figure out a way to make things right before it’s too late.
Faith Taylor is popular by association, thanks to her BFFs, Adria and Janelle. When a new website called SlamBook targets her school’s popular kids, Faith gets sucked in. And when she discovers her own page on the site, she finds herself obsessing over the comments people are posting about her. Some are good, some are…not so good. Faith becomes determined to match the negative comments to the people, and begins to retaliate by posting negative comments of her own.
Soon, Faith finds that people are talking about the comments she’s leaving. Even though she does feel guilty, it’s just so easy to be mean behind the anonymity of her laptop. But when her comments go too far, she realizes she must figure out a way to make things right before it’s too late.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2020
8 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Faris
107 books96 followersStephanie Faris is the author of the middle grade books 30 Days of No Gossip and 25 Roses, as well as the Piper Morgan chapter book series. When she isn’t writing books for children, she writes technology, finance, and business content for a variety of websites. She currently lives in her hometown, just north of Nashville. Visit her online at StephanieFaris.com.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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April 25, 2020
April 17, 2020
Faith finds out about the new Slambook site from her popular friend Janelle. The kids in their 7th grade class are all excited about this new opportunity to see what others have to say about them. Faith and her friends are certain that Slambook should be shut down as they understand the implications of the site. They decide to keep an eye on it before telling their principal; just monitor the pages that are put up with their names. Then it all begins to spiral out of control. Faith uses her coding skills to find out more about the site. When she cracks the code revealing the names of the users, she can't help but get even more involved. It's okay to bully the bully, right? Or, is it? Readers will soon realize that Faith is just like them. And Faith is obsessed with Slambook. Will Faith and her friends still be able to do something before things have gone too far? A fascinating examination of nice kids and the consequences of anonymous comments.
Thank you to Aladdin and Edelweiss for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Aladdin and Edelweiss for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
September 25, 2020
Faith lives among the popular crowd, along with her two best friends, Adria and Janelle. When a website called Slambook starts to target all the popular kids, Faith immediately jumps into it. Soon she finds her own page and begins to obsess about comments being posted about her: the good ones and the not so good ones. Determined to get back at those who post negative comments, she sends out a few negative comments of her own.
Word soon spread about Faith's comments. Sure she feels guilty, but she finds it so easy to be mean when no one knows for sure that she's behind the comments. But when she takes the comments one step too far, she has to figure out how to make things right before it’s too late.
I definitely thought of the movie Mean Girls as soon as I picked up this book. It made me remember the scene with the burn book, and how it was passed around school. It also made me think of how one comment can either make or break you. Always think before you post, for you never know the impact it will have on you or someone else.
Reviewed by: Skye Kordistos, Youth and School Services Librarian, Vernon Area Public Library.
Word soon spread about Faith's comments. Sure she feels guilty, but she finds it so easy to be mean when no one knows for sure that she's behind the comments. But when she takes the comments one step too far, she has to figure out how to make things right before it’s too late.
I definitely thought of the movie Mean Girls as soon as I picked up this book. It made me remember the scene with the burn book, and how it was passed around school. It also made me think of how one comment can either make or break you. Always think before you post, for you never know the impact it will have on you or someone else.
Reviewed by: Skye Kordistos, Youth and School Services Librarian, Vernon Area Public Library.
September 7, 2020
Wrapped up this pertinent read for middle graders! Words hurt on a computer and in person! Be Kind! Ordering for my classroom!
February 18, 2021
A great topic and not an evil, or bad, book, but I can’t forgive how superficial it seemed despite treating cyber-bullying and depression. None of the kids or adults ever came alive for me. Words come out of 12 & 13 year-olds that I had a hard time believing - “People were saying they were going to the school board and principal and various teachers to report this. Other people were saying that wouldn’t help this poor soul, who was obviously at the end of her rope.” ‘Poor soul’ and ‘end of rope’ ? At one point our narrator Faith uses the expression ‘to boot’ to mean in addition or also. ‘She was a cheerleader to boot.’ Does not feel like a phrase spoken in the 2020’s.
The story is written in the confessional, self-narrated style - “I wasn’t sure whether to be glad or upset about that. I didn’t really want a page with my name at the top, but why wasn’t there a page about Adria? Why Janelle and not her? I was kind of new to not being invisible, but Adria had been hanging out with Janelle forever. Just how long did someone have to be Janelle’s friend before being just as important?” Who is Faith talking to, why is she telling this story? When she and her friends discover a comment on the online slambook that indicate suicidal thoughts, they leap into action, arranging sleepovers and rushing into the unlocked houses of a classmate. O.K. I can buy the idea that tweens would be so impulsive but would Faith’s mother really call the police based on the fact that her daughter is worried about an anonymous post and there is no one home at a friend’s house in the middle of a work day.
The best part of the story is Faith’s noticing of how addictive online popularity is and her reflection on why she feels drawn to participate in something she knows is wrong because she feels justified. My feelings were hurt, I was jealous, I thought these other people had done something mean or wrong so they deserved being slammed. Those feelings are human and frequent in adolescence and absolutely epidemic in our culture right now. They deserve a deeper and more realistic depiction.
The story is written in the confessional, self-narrated style - “I wasn’t sure whether to be glad or upset about that. I didn’t really want a page with my name at the top, but why wasn’t there a page about Adria? Why Janelle and not her? I was kind of new to not being invisible, but Adria had been hanging out with Janelle forever. Just how long did someone have to be Janelle’s friend before being just as important?” Who is Faith talking to, why is she telling this story? When she and her friends discover a comment on the online slambook that indicate suicidal thoughts, they leap into action, arranging sleepovers and rushing into the unlocked houses of a classmate. O.K. I can buy the idea that tweens would be so impulsive but would Faith’s mother really call the police based on the fact that her daughter is worried about an anonymous post and there is no one home at a friend’s house in the middle of a work day.
The best part of the story is Faith’s noticing of how addictive online popularity is and her reflection on why she feels drawn to participate in something she knows is wrong because she feels justified. My feelings were hurt, I was jealous, I thought these other people had done something mean or wrong so they deserved being slammed. Those feelings are human and frequent in adolescence and absolutely epidemic in our culture right now. They deserve a deeper and more realistic depiction.
May 10, 2020
When a new website called Slambook starts up at Faith Taylor's school, kids become obsessed about seeing what others write about them on their pages. Under anonymity, they can write things about other students too. What starts off as a place to share sweet comments about each other, soon turns to ugly bullying. So ugly that it sends one person into a serious state of depression. Faith needs to use her coding skills to figure out who is behind all the nasty comments and change things for the better.
The Popularity Code addresses a real problem middle-school kids face: Cyber-bullying. This book sheds light on the problem and shows how harmful hurtful comments can be. Perhaps those reading it will think twice before "slamming" someone when they realize how serious the consequences can be.
This is a well-written book with a topic that's very relevant to middle-school kids.
The Popularity Code addresses a real problem middle-school kids face: Cyber-bullying. This book sheds light on the problem and shows how harmful hurtful comments can be. Perhaps those reading it will think twice before "slamming" someone when they realize how serious the consequences can be.
This is a well-written book with a topic that's very relevant to middle-school kids.
Want to read
March 22, 2020This sounds like Mean Girls for a middle-school audience and I'm here for it
April 15, 2020
Thoughtful considered exploration of online bullying.
Appropriate for younger teens. Sensitive dealing of mental health issues.
Appropriate for younger teens. Sensitive dealing of mental health issues.
December 30, 2021
A combination of Mean Girls and Posted, but with a good message.
August 21, 2024
Nice middle grade read, a must read for younger readers about bullying and friendship.
June 10, 2025
I wasn’t expecting this book to have such an impact on me.
November 12, 2020
I thought this was an ok book. I've read others recently that touch on similar issues in the middle school crowd that feel more whole. I had a hard time connecting with Faith as she seemed so shallow with not a lot of redeeming qualities (but I guess that's real when you're trying to figure yourself out in middle school). It seemed like the first 2/3 of the book meandered around the Slambook until it really picked up the pace and flew and felt kind of forced. I wish there was more exploration of Faith feeling overlooked and ignored within her own nuclear family. That never really got addressed, although it was cool to see her sister, with whom she didn't have a lot in common, pick up on Faith's changing demeanor and stress level. I felt like the ending of all the students going in and writing positive things was kind of forced and felt cheesy.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews