How Not to Be Popular

Feb 01, 2009 Cara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Cara by: Ash

Shelves: realistic-fiction

Sugar Magnolia, weird name right? But our main character prefers to go by Maggie. It would be an understatement to say that she moves A LOT. Her parents are the "free sprited" type and don't get tied down to one place. She is fed up with losing friends (and now boyfriend) everytime she moves, so she comes up with a brillant plan (well she thinks it's brillant). At her next school she is going to do everything possible to be the most unpopular student ever, so she'll never have to lose anybody ag...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Ash rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was incredibly funny, though it's mostly because the main character embarasses herself so often. I found myself being embarassed for her a few times myself.

Qucik Overview: Maggie(Sugar Magnolia being her given name) has been moving around with her hippie parents her whole life and she's tired of it. Having to say goodbye to friends she just made, and having to be the new girl all over again. This last move was different though because this time she had to leave a boyfriend behind. A bo...more This book was incredibly funny, though it's mostly because the main character embarasses herself so often. I found myself being embarassed for her a few times myself.

Qucik Overview: Maggie(Sugar Magnolia being her given name) has been moving around with her hippie parents her whole life and she's tired of it. Having to say goodbye to friends she just made, and having to be the new girl all over again. This last move was different though because this time she had to leave a boyfriend behind. A boyfriend that broke up with her because she's moving away. She makes a decision that this time she isn't going to make any friends. She's going to be by herself that way she can leave with no strings attached. Maggie is on a quest to be unpopular, but finds that she makes friends with a group of geeks and still manages to be more popular than ever.

I thought that Maggie would be a little more of a likable character, but she complained through practically the whole book. You understand her and feel for her though so it isn't too annoying. She does some pretty ridiculous stuff in her effort to be unpopular. Even though at times I wondered, she really does have a logical train of thought (although I would never come to the conclusions and courses of action that she does).In other reviews people mention how they hate when Maggie's mean to her friends. I admit that I almost hated her for doing it. I could see it coming, it was futile but I freaked out about how it was all going to go down. Really though it doesn't last very long at all so it's bearable. The message of the book is an old one but the author does a really good job of driving the point home. Showing us why we shouldn't care so much about what people think. Especially the ones that don't matter or that we don't like. Also the authors assessment of the high school dynamic was hilariously accurate (having moved around myself I can say that it's true for the most part).

I loved the friendships that Maggie develops. All her geeky friends are so weird that you have to love them. Even though Penny's awkward she's a great friend. It peeved me at first that the ending isn't totally wrapped up. The whole open ending thing kinda irks me. Most everything is resolved, but there's still room for other possibilities, but it makes sense. The author doesn't want other things to overshadow the true meaning of the book. One thing that I really feel needs to be mentoined is that it's a lot easier to be unpopular than Maggie portrays. If it was that easy to be accepted just about everyone would be popular. Still though a great funny, funny book with a good meassage that we have to keep on learning.(less)

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Jan 28, 2009 Steph (Reviewer X) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: blog-already-read

I guess the reason I was so in dire need to read How NOT To Be Popular is that I, too, have moved around my fair share and I wanted to see if I could relate to the main character, Sugar Magnolia Dempsey (no, I am not kidding) (call her Maggie). I am so sick of reading sad books about moving--damn it, I have my own life's sob fest to keep me depressed if I wish to be. I wanted some humor along with the situation. And anyone who's read the back cover's Tips for NOT Being Popular (posted above) can...more

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Nov 28, 2008 Becky rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ziegler, Jennifer. 2008. How Not To Be Popular.

Oh crap. What did I just do?

How Not To Be Popular begs the question how far would you go to not be popular. Maggie Dempsey hates her life, hates her parents. Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word. She hates the fact that just when she's getting settled down, making friends, having a love life, her parents decide it's time to move. Again. And again. And again. This time, Maggie has had it. She's definitely HAD IT. No more settling down. No more makin...more Ziegler, Jennifer. 2008. How Not To Be Popular.

Oh crap. What did I just do?

How Not To Be Popular begs the question how far would you go to not be popular. Maggie Dempsey hates her life, hates her parents. Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word. She hates the fact that just when she's getting settled down, making friends, having a love life, her parents decide it's time to move. Again. And again. And again. This time, Maggie has had it. She's definitely HAD IT. No more settling down. No more making friends. And no more trying to have a love life, hooking a boyfriend only to have to say goodbye.

So Maggie settles on a plan. A plan to make her the most UNpopular girl in Austin, Texas. She'll do the exact opposite of what comes naturally to her. She'll ignore the cute guys that flirt with her. No matter how cute. No matter how persistent. She won't make herself likable to the popular girls. Won't play into their games. Won't worship the ground they walk on. Won't hang on every word or friendly smile. But it's not enough--she soon realizes--to just be neutral. Soon she'll be seeking out the ugliest clothes and shoes to wear, joining the geekiest clubs, and hanging out with all the wrong people. Will it be enough then?

Maggie takes on the persona of the geekiest of the geeks, the weirdest of the weird. Doing cartwheels--in a dress at the movie theatre, flashing panties weird. Carrying a potted plant of rosemary to school to sniff because she has a headache weird. No matter what she does, Maggie finds herself liked and admired and the center of attention.

What does a girl have to do to make no one like her? Will telling the truth do it?

Read and see in How Not To Be Popular.

How Not To Be Popular is as silly as can be. Stretching credibility to the max. Would any teenage girl go to such extremes? Sacrificing dignity every single day of the school year? Not caring what ANY one thought of her? This isn't a novel of a girl being herself, finding herself, learning to love herself as she is. This is a story of a girl living a lie, being a lie. Though I suppose one could definitely argue that Maggie doesn't know herself well enough to distinguish what being real, being authentic, being genuine is...what it means. She could just as easily be living a lie when she's wearing the popular persona as well. Trading one lie for another. Who is she really? Will she ever know? Will we?

I liked elements of How Not To Be Popular. I did. But there were parts of me that hated Maggie as well. Hated her for her hypocrisy. Hated her for how easy it was for her. How easy everyone just "loved" and "adored" her.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews (less)

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Mar 07, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Definitely one of my more enjoyable forays into young adult literature. Sugar Magnolia "Maggie" Dempsey is the surprisingly well-adjusted daughter of hippie parents. While loving and supportive, her restless parents uproot Maggie every few months and move to another part of the country. As a young girl, Maggie loved the adventure and diversity of her parents nomadic lifestyle. However, Maggie is now in high school and this latest move has resulted in a break-up with her first serious boyfriend....more

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Mar 31, 2009 Adriana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-social-situations-family-relatio

The story centers on Maggie (Sugar Magnolia by birth), who is the daughter of hippies that don't stay in one place too long. Her parents are free spirits and every time she moves, she always loses friends, and sometimes boyfriends. It picks up when they are moving to Austin, Texas. Maggie has a boyfriend, but not long after they have gone, he sends her a text saying he can't do the whole long distance thing. So Maggie hatches a plan to not let herself get attached in Austin, since she knows they...more

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Apr 29, 2008 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maggie Dempsey is a pro at fitting in. That’s because she never stays in one place for more than eight months. And that’s because her parents are all about “going somewhere.” They don’t see it as “leaving,” unlike Maggie, who’s had to leave behind a best friend and a boyfriend in Portland, Oregon. Maggie is tired of being hurt, so she comes up with Operation Avoid Friends: she’s going to be unpopular.

This is harder than it sounds. Maggie has to come up with ridiculous schemes in order to seem li...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Charlotte :) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is great entertanment, and it's really funny. It always made me happy for a strange reason. It's a great book about this girl Maggie who always has to leave schools/town/etc because her parents travel a lot. So she always leaves good friends behind, and this time she also leaves a boyfriend behind. So she comes up with a plan to have no friends in the next town she goes to, so when she leaves it wont be hard for her. But then she ends up liking a couple of people....
One of my favorite...more

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Feb 26, 2009 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult

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Mar 13, 2013 Persephone rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I heard of this book through a tumblr post recommending "sunny afternoon books" and the title had grabbed my attention. I read a few negative reviews and thought "Mmmh, I do not think this is going to disturb me / I won't see it that way" and started reading. Boy, was I wrong.
People complained that this book was unrealistic, that no sane girl would try purposefully NOT to be popular, because at this age, everyone craves to be liked. I can believe it, but what I couldn't condone in this book was...more I heard of this book through a tumblr post recommending "sunny afternoon books" and the title had grabbed my attention. I read a few negative reviews and thought "Mmmh, I do not think this is going to disturb me / I won't see it that way" and started reading. Boy, was I wrong.
People complained that this book was unrealistic, that no sane girl would try purposefully NOT to be popular, because at this age, everyone craves to be liked. I can believe it, but what I couldn't condone in this book was the main character's snobbiness.
This is a book about a girl who purposefully does everything she thinks will make her look like a loser in order to not make any friends she'll have to leave later on since her parents move a lot.
This could have worked if she had actually liked any of the stuff she wore / displayed. For example, the heroine shows up to high school with a Star Trek backpack and lunchbox set. If she had always been a Star Trek fan, but never dared talk about it with anyone for fear of getting mocked, this would've been great. But she, herself, seems to think Star Trek is completely ridiculous and thus made her seem as shallow as the traditional mean girls, whom she constantly puts down, by the way. The heroine is just as bad as them and this really ruined the book for me. At one point, she learns that her boyfriend is dating a new girl that she calls "cheap and obvious" because she likes lace and red lipstick. Um, excuse you?
At the end of the book, we learn in the author's bio that she's never been unpopular. I'll say! The unpopular kids that the MC eventually befriends and starts to love are unbelievably cliché. It's like she's never met any of these people.
Another thing that annoyed me : the MC was trying to get unpopular as I've said, but still manages to be a cute guy magnet. Uh-uh. And worst, once, she meets a classmate in front of a cinema and they end up watching the movie together. She realises he's starting to like him, so in order to make him not like him, she flashes him her knickers (by accident). Then, she's all "YAY! No boy would ever like me after this.". Ummm... Unless those knickers sported Nicolas Cage's face on them, I doubt that would make any horny teenage male run away in the other direction, darling. This book just REEKED of special snowflake and "oops, I'm accidentally seductive and likeable" and it was just SO ANNOYING.
The only good thing about the book was Jack, who felt quite real (more so than the main character).
So, no. I don't "rully" recommend this book to anyone.(less)

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Feb 03, 2013 Lara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maggie's family moves. A lot. Every time she gets settled down in a new city, her crazy, free-spirited parents decide to pick up and move again. After arriving at her newest home in Austin, Texas, Maggie decides to not get attached to anyone or anything, so when she and her family move again it'll be pain free. Except her little plan doesn't work out so well, no matter how hard she tries.

Wow. I haven't written a review in a while. Hi. Anyway. I'm only giving this 4/4.5 stars because it took me...more Maggie's family moves. A lot. Every time she gets settled down in a new city, her crazy, free-spirited parents decide to pick up and move again. After arriving at her newest home in Austin, Texas, Maggie decides to not get attached to anyone or anything, so when she and her family move again it'll be pain free. Except her little plan doesn't work out so well, no matter how hard she tries.

Wow. I haven't written a review in a while. Hi. Anyway. I'm only giving this 4/4.5 stars because it took me a while to get into. I read the first chapter, put it down, then picked it up again. I'm glad I did, because I thought it was amazing, but still imperfect in a lot of different ways.

**Some spoilers below**

So, first of all. Maggie. I really really tried to like her, but there was just something about her that I...didn't agree with. I thought she was hysterical. I saw a lot of myself in her. However, it bugged me that she didn't really ever act her age. Sometimes I actually forgot she was a senior in high school and not a freshman, or maybe even younger than that. A lot of the book is her moping because her old boyfriend, Trevor, broke up with her because she was moving to Texas. It was fine at first, but after a while? It got old. Really, really old. She had a right to be sad and heartbroken, but not DEPRESSED like she was. It was unbearable.

I also thought she wasn't a great character because she made some huge not-so-smart decisions, especially later on in the book. This sounds really harsh, but I wish she was just a tad more intelligent and thought things through a bit better before she did them. (The ending of the book. If you've read it, you probably know what I mean.) You'd think that after going through all this she would have learned something, but, you know. Whatever.

I LOVED Maggie's new friends. Especially Jack. I think they were perfect together. Penny was pretty cool, too. Maggie fit in with them so well, and was so much better off with them than she was with shanna and Sharla or whatever their names were.

Anywhooo. I'd also just like to say I think Jennifer Ziegler is an amazing writer. I definitely felt Maggie's pain, embarrassment, confusion, sadness, and anger throughout the book, as well as her happiness. I even cried for her towards the end. And I have to say, I thought Maggie was super funny. Some parts had me actually cracking up. Like I said before, this book wasn't perfect, but I still really enjoyed it, especially after Maggie wasn't having "mopefests" (isn't that what she called them?) every other hour. It taught a great lesson, too. I loved this and I'm looking forward to reading Jennifer's other books :)(less)

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Jan 01, 2013 Danielle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 100-books-in-2013, bought-in-2013

She did what?!?!

This review will be short.

This book was pretty epic I think in some ways. There were things I loved and things I absolutely could not stand!

I loved the whole idea of the book. It was hilarious! Trying to be unpopular and doing outrages things to achieve it. It was so different from the other high school books I've read! I had to keep reading just to find out what crazy thing she'd do next!

I liked the idea of the little romance in the book, not the Trevor part. Her pining over her...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Cherie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sugar Magnolia Dempsey (Maggie) has lived her entire life travelling with her parents. They will arrive in a town, Maggie will get settled at school, and then her parents will uproot her life by moving to another place.

Maggie used to like having so many adventures, but after they moved to Austin, Texas and left Maggie’s perfect other and best friend in Portland, Oregon, she can take it no more. Making new friends only to have then ripped away so soon is just too traumatic. As the family is only...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Jennifer Su rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: school

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Jul 23, 2012 Angelie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've been reading a lot of dark novels lately so I decided to look for something light and fun. This book was just perfect!

Maggie, a high school student, has to keep up with her parents' carefee, hippie lifestyle. She didn't really have a place she could call a home because her family moves a lot. She's been to different states, attended different schools and made different set of friends. Eventually, she's grown tired of saying goodbyes and having to be the new girl all over again. So now that...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Maandoe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fiction

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Jul 06, 2011 Paradoxical rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reading-list, books-otherwise

The thing about books like How Not to be Popular is that while the underlying themes may be about being yourself, okay with who you are, and so on and so forth, they fail somewhat in execution. Why? Because they invariably descend into cliche, shove everyone in tidy, neat little groups, and then top it off with a main character that finally figures out that popularity is not everything (or, you know, important at all) and is finally okay with who she is (which, while good, is always the same unp...more The thing about books like How Not to be Popular is that while the underlying themes may be about being yourself, okay with who you are, and so on and so forth, they fail somewhat in execution. Why? Because they invariably descend into cliche, shove everyone in tidy, neat little groups, and then top it off with a main character that finally figures out that popularity is not everything (or, you know, important at all) and is finally okay with who she is (which, while good, is always the same unpopular, do your own thing sort of person).

Which isn't a bad sort of resolution, except that it's really tiring to see all of the popular kids being the crappy people (in general) and all of those little groups that always stay within their groups, and the loser club is (always) where one finds their true friends. It's just old and cliche. It's bashing one group (popular kids) and exalting another (so called loser kids) and sometimes you want them to be people first, instead of first seeing them for what kind of group they hang out with.

In one sense the book turns the usual business on its head, as the main character, Maggie, doesn't want to be popular. Except it's not because she thinks the popular kids are shallow or anything, but because she doesn't want to make friends as she knows that she's just going to move away soon. She's mopey, tries desperately to fend people off with horrid clothing choices, and is generally a moody teenager. Eh, I cut her a lot of slack because of this.

There's no real depth to the other characters. The 'loser' characters that she falls into line with don't actually feel like friends, and they don't ever seem fully fleshed out to me. Maggie's parents, while hilarious, are also more than a little out there and while I like them, they don't seem real at all. Neither does Maggie's situation and how things turn out for her. She tries desperately to be unpopular, but finds that she's growing more popular instead.

But, ignoring such thoughts and focusing on the really, really shallow, the book isn't all that bad. It's funny, it goes along at a good pace, and it's wrapped up fairly neatly. Granted, the ending was the worst part of the book (it happened too abruptly and too easily), and the book was highly predictable. Reading the first few pages of the book you pretty much know instantly how everything is going to turn out, with little to no surprises. But it was entertaining, so there's that.

It made me laugh at places. It amused me. I wish there was something different about it that would make it stand out or make it less cliche, but I didn't hate it. 2 stars. (less)

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Jun 05, 2011 Karen Ball rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hilariously funny! Maggie has just moved to Austin, Texas with her loveably wacky hippie parents who have moved every few months, living all over the world, doing whatever they wanted when the mood struck them. Maggie left behind good friends and her boyfriend Trevor in Portland, Oregon. Trevor dumps her via a text message, and Maggie decides that she is never, ever getting attached to anyone again, since that would only make leaving painful (again). And thus begins the social experiment of unpo...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Bunners rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-finish, ya

Ugh.

You know, unless it's explicitly stated that the book I'm reading is fantasy, I like it to have some kind of grasp on reality.

This one didn't.

I got about half way through before I gave up and read the last chapter before tossing it on the pile to take to the used bookstore. The characters were unrealistic and the plot was ridiculous and shallow and none of it seemed to get any better by the end of the book.

Maybe it's me? Maybe I was expecting too much? But the idea - a girl who has spent her...more

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Dec 27, 2009 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: alison-8th-grade-ir-reports-sadelle

this book is about a girl, named Maggie, who lives with her hippy parents.her parents love to move, so she never stays in one place for more then 8 months. Every time she has to move she loses good friends. so when she moves from Portland to Austin Texas, she decides enough is enough. she decides to act like a social outcast, so she wont make any friends. she fails.

i can kind of relate to her, or at least see where she is coming from. i can see why she might want to try to make no friends. she s...more

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Apr 24, 2009 Nian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

Instead of a protagonist who wants to be popular, here's a main character who will stop at nothing to achieve the image of a dork. She'll wear jumpsuits, ugly flower caps, bring Star Trek lunchboxes to school, and even flash her undies in the movie theater to scare a boy away. But no matter what Maggie does, people are imitating her. Despite everything, she's becoming popular.

I liked the concept.

But the high school setting was so overused. So stereotypical. So exaggerated and false. You can sa...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Lara Buljan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I LOVED the premise of this book. There are so many books out there that deal with teenagers trying to fit in, and this one is the exact opposite - what to do when your only goal is not to get attached to a place?

That's Maggie's problem. Or should I say, Sugar Magnolia's? Yup, that's her real name. Her parents are second-generation hippies, and well, they obviously love The Grateful Dead. They are free-spirited and move a lot. They're not tied down to a place, much to Maggie's dismay.
But now,...more I LOVED the premise of this book. There are so many books out there that deal with teenagers trying to fit in, and this one is the exact opposite - what to do when your only goal is not to get attached to a place?

That's Maggie's problem. Or should I say, Sugar Magnolia's? Yup, that's her real name. Her parents are second-generation hippies, and well, they obviously love The Grateful Dead. They are free-spirited and move a lot. They're not tied down to a place, much to Maggie's dismay.
But now, after moving for the upteenth time, she decided it was enough. For the next few months Austin, Texas will be her home. And because she's convinced they'll be moving again soon, she decided not to miss anyone when they move again. To accomplish that she decided to be unpopular.

She thought her plan was brilliant - to wear ugly clothes, hang around with "losers", wear a Star Trek backpack and most importantly, not to get a boyfriend.
And this is where I immediately disliked her. She thought that by hanging around with losers, she won’t be hurt when she leaves. She avoided the popular kids and thought that by hanging around with geeks, she won't be hurt when the inevitable move comes. And I was so pissed at her for that! What, do you think that if someone is a geek, is brave enough to be different that they aren't able to be good friends? That is so shallow! I actually couldn't believe her thoughts. So what if they aren't popular or that beautiful or don't spend their money on expensive clothes. It is the main reason why I didn't like this book that much.

To be honest, it had a good plot. The main characters were unique, and the clichés were reduced to a minimum. I loved Maggie's parents, and their bond with her. Their quirks and embarrassing acts were hilarious and I enjoyed reading about them. I loved John as well. I kind of liked his political talk and his serious attitude, he was definitely refreshing.
Another thing I disliked was the love story. Usually, if it’s well-written I don’t have a problem with it, but now… It felt forced and I felt no chemistry between her and John whatsoever.

To wrap it up, I liked this book, but I feel it could’ve been a lot better. I guess it was better in my mind than on paper.
(less)

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Dec 25, 2010 Midnight Bloom rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How Not To Be Popular is pure, fun entertainment filled with plenty of laugh out-loud moments and a storyline that will endear protagonist Maggie to readers on the spot. When I was midway through and had to stop to continue later, I kept thinking back to the novel and a smile would break out on my face as I remembered a particular scene. Seriously, this novel should come with a warning sign on it that says, "Beware: This novel will make you randomly smile and laugh when you're not reading it."

Se...more How Not To Be Popular is pure, fun entertainment filled with plenty of laugh out-loud moments and a storyline that will endear protagonist Maggie to readers on the spot. When I was midway through and had to stop to continue later, I kept thinking back to the novel and a smile would break out on my face as I remembered a particular scene. Seriously, this novel should come with a warning sign on it that says, "Beware: This novel will make you randomly smile and laugh when you're not reading it."

Seventeen year-old Maggie Dempsey is sick of moving all over the country with her free-spirited hippie parents, Les and Rosie. It was fun when she was younger, but now she doesn't want to say goodbye anymore, especially since this time she's leaving behind a best friend and boyfriend. So when her family moves to Austin, Texas, Maggie creates a plan to stop herself from becoming attached to those who will only hurt her when she has to move away once again. Her plan? Becoming unpopular and acting as weird as possible so no one will dare like a loser like her and try to be friends. The only thing is... she didn't expect the plan to backfire.

How Not To Be Popular had me laughing so hard at some points, I had to momentarily put the book down until I could continue reading it again once I got a hold of myself. It's been awhile since a novel has made me done that! I mean, in most novels, when kids move to new schools, they often try to join the popular cliques that dominate the school but here we have the exact opposite!

Maggie is hilarious! She may be seventeen, but the way she acts and thinks sometimes would beg to differ. A lot of her plan does revolve around wearing some pretty crazy outfits that would make her stick out like a sore thumb and bringing out her geekier side... and despite her best efforts, she begins to become friends with people she would never have even given a second look before. It was heartwarming to see her look beyond appearances. As for her parents, they were adorable, loving and sometime even outrageous, but at the same time, oh my goodness, they could be so embarrassing! It only cued another bout of laughter.

While the novel does provide a lot of comic relief, at the heart of the story we have a girl who's afraid to put herself out there for others anymore and just doesn't want to get hurt again. And Maggie's going to learn that friends can be even the most unlikely of people that she never once expected. If you're looking for a funny, laugh-out-read that will pass the time with a smile, I would definitely recommend How Not To Be Popular!(less)

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Feb 24, 2012 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Daughter of nomad, free-spirited, hippie parents, Sugar (aka Maggie, but how cool of a name is Sugar?!) is once again on the move. Her family is moving from Portland, OR to Austin, TX, and Sugar is not happy about it. She had some friends, and Trevor (swoon), and she is fed up with being a part of something for short amounts of time only to be ripped away when her parents get the notion to head off into the wild blue yonder. So this time she's going in with a plan: do everything in her power to...more

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May 29, 2011 Şalehah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, humour

I picked this up when I was taking a rest from studying; needed a break from the heavy reading. To be honest, another reason I read this was just to get it out of the to-read pile; I wasn't expecting this book to be much good, having already assessed it as a typical 'teen-y' book.

I was right. 'How Not to Be Popular' wasn't anything spectacular, but it wasn't bad either. If you happen to be in the mood for a shallow teen book. One of those 'superficial high school stories', as my friend Nora puts...more

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Jul 30, 2009 Catherine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This teen novel is worth a read if you are a young teen. The plot was predictable in a sort of formulaic way, but if you arent' already aware of such writing formulas, it will hold your interest. The biggest problem I had with the story is that it's historical context is incorrect. The protagonist's parents are portrayed as free spirited hippie types, overeducated and restless. Since most of the people who bought into that scene are now in their 60's, maybe even older, it's not likely that they...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Jude F. is currently reading it · review of another edition

I'm currrently reading "How Not to Be Popular". This book is about a teenage girl who keeeps moving all around the country and now she has landed in Austin, TX. The big thing in this book is that, since she moves around so much, she's just going to not make any friends in Austin because she knows she's just going to move again. This book is very fast-paced because at every turn, there a friendly girl, a hot boy, and her parents doing something insane. Maggie has come to hating her parents becaus...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Samantha rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 10th-grade-advisory

Throughout her whole life, Sugar Magnolia Dempsey, who goes by the nickname Maggie, has moved around the country with her hippie parents. At first, she thought it was fun, a new adventure every time she moved to a new location. However, when she is forced to leave once again to go to Austin, Texas, she is unwilling. Doing so would mean leaving behind her amazing boyfriend, Trevor, and all the friends she made. She doesn't want to go. The move really hurts her, especially when Trevor breaks up wi...more

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Feb 11, 2009 Lnlisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-ya

This one had me laughing hysterically for hours! Maggie was raised by hippie parents who are still footloose and fancy free, which basically means that now at the beginning of her Senior Year, Maggie has attended ten different high schools. The last move was especially emotionally wrenching for Maggie as she had to leave a boyfriend behind as well as a best friend, so she decides to do everything necessary to not make friends. What's interesting is that as well as being seriously funny, this boo...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Aya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the book, How Not To Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler is about this high school girl , Maggie Dempsey who keeps on moving to new schools and new states with her family. But suddenly, she gets an idea, a plan to "Have no Friends" so she would persuade her parents to leave her school. Her plan turns into a "have to be unpopular" plan. Sugar (Maggie) changed the ways she looks by hearing other peoples opinions on the "Ugliest" clothes. Maggie wore the ugliest, silliest, and out of style clothe and...more In the book, How Not To Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler is about this high school girl , Maggie Dempsey who keeps on moving to new schools and new states with her family. But suddenly, she gets an idea, a plan to "Have no Friends" so she would persuade her parents to leave her school. Her plan turns into a "have to be unpopular" plan. Sugar (Maggie) changed the ways she looks by hearing other peoples opinions on the "Ugliest" clothes. Maggie wore the ugliest, silliest, and out of style clothe and became the way she called, "Dorky". The dorkier her clothe and style are, the more she gets even if she wears what she thinks looks nice. What could possibly be the code to popularity? Every type of clique wants her; the Popular, the goth, the nerds-all of them!They even copy her style!! will she just give up?
I think this book was a very nice book. The author uses starling words. It's humorous how sugar-Maggie plans what to do the next day at school to avoid people obsessing over her. The plot was also very interesting because Maggie tries so much to be unpopular, but it ends up being an epic fail, Literally. Jennifer Ziegler's idea of this book was very original. I've never heard anything like it... Jennifer Ziegler is a well not known author who was born in Temple, Texas. Since she was just a small girl, she wrote. She doesn't even connect the book with her real life, which is bewildering how she came up with this idea. Even if the book had a fine plot ,the ending wasn't the best. I expected something better--Happier! I sort of hated the ending! Maggie is an independent girl who never gives up, but she is also very flat. She doesn't change much from the begging to the end. The most change is in the middle of the book, or the rising action. Sugar was being stingy to Miles , because she wanted to be unpopular, and her didn't seem to get that clear. But, I also like how inside Maggie secretly saying the sweetest things about him. Over all, If i could read this book 13 more times i would!
I recommend this book to middle school students, but mostly 8th graders so they'd get a sneak peek about an average high school. I also recommend this book to readers who like to read realistic fiction books, or non- fiction. If you like books that have planning, failing but finally archiving, this is for you. If you've ever read Flipped or Tangled, then you should totally read this, because they are similar stories about high school. In addition, if your a type of person who likes to read books about relationships then that's also for you! The Kirkees review quoted, "Maggie and Jack's relationship rings true, adding an irresistible sincerity to both characters that allows Maggie's self-discovery and growth to unfold naturally. Thoughtful and fun."
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