The Rocky Road Trip of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang

The Popularity Papers #4

by Amy Ignatow

Fourth in cartoonist Amy Ignatow’s Popularity Papers series, The Rocky Road Trip of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang finds the two best friends on summer vacation after surviving their first year in junior high school.

It’s summertime, and Lydia and Julie are going on a road trip! After all the ups and downs of their first year in junior high, they’re looking forward to seeing the sights and getting some new perspective on their quest for popularity. Papa Dad and Daddy will provide the transportation, and Lydia and Julie will provide the entertainment.

At first they use their Powers of Observation to catalog the traditions and oddities of each new location they visit, but soon their attention turns to parents and negotiating sensitive family dynamics.

By the time the duo hits familiar streets again, they may have to accept some uncomfortable truths, but their journey is infused with the humor, heart, and truthfulness that Amy Ignatow is known for.

The Popularity
Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (#1)
The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (#2)
Words of (Questionable) Wisdom from Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (#3)
The Rocky Road Trip of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (#4)
The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (#5)
Love and Other Fiascos with Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (#6)
The Less-Than-Hidden Secrets and Final Revelations of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (#7)

Genres: Middle Grade, Graphic Novels, Childrens, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, LGBT

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2012

Reviews

[Shazzer]

Possibly my favorite of the Popularity Papers. I've grown so fond of Lydia and Julie and their families, it was a delight to spend more time with them. In this installment, it's mostly Lydia, Julie and Julie's dads on a road trip across America. The Rocky Road Trip is full of hysterical insights, clever drawings (I love the drawing of Julie and Papa Dad riding a flying dinosaur) and touching moments. For the first time in the series, the issue of Julie's two dads becomes an "issue", but it done so tenderly, that I can only hope it broadens readers minds and creates a little more tolerance in the world. Also at play is Lydia's relationship with her mostly absent father, and this is another well done portrayal of a sensitive topic. I could really relate to Lydia's back and forth feelings about her father because Ignatow's characterizations are so empathetic. Even though they're fictional, I'm glad Lydia and Julie have each other. They're the perfect sort of friends.

And a cliffhanger ending? Ahhh! How could you, Ms. Ignatow?

[sasha?]

at 17, i would die for Julie and Lydia just as much as i would die for them when I was 9. i love them and this series so very dearly.

[Ubalstecha]

Julie and Lydia are back! In this volume Julie's dads take the girls on a cross country roadtrip as part of their summer vacation. Along the way, there are visits with both girls' families. Both girls learn that families can be complicated, with both finding members of their family who don't accept them for who they are. They also find that the family you choose and/or make is sometimes better than anything you could imagine.

Author Ignatow has produced her best work with this volume of Lydia and Julie's adventures. Lydia's distant and unaccepting father is contrasted with both of Julie's loving fathers. Julie's grandparents, who never accepted that their son is gay, married and adopted a daughter are compared to her other grandparents who embrace the life their son has made for themselves. The girls' relationship with each other is strengthened through the trip. We also see Lydia's relationship with her sister Melody strengthen through the emails the two girls exchange. And all of this is captured in the diary/notebook/graphic novel style that helps to make this series so endearing.

Go get this. Heck get the whole series.

[Carmina Beatriz Dizon]

Let’s just say that this is the most educational out of all the books in the series. Aside from that, so many layers were added to the characters and we understand more who they are. Especially Lydia, meeting her father, we get a glimpse of why she might have the tendency to self-sabotage and be a people pleaser. As usual, it maintains a wholesome atmosphere without getting too exhaustingly positive.

[Togidemi]

Cute! It's a road trip book so it's a lot of touristy things; less friendship trouble and more family stuff. I love how realistically and maturely it handles sticky family situations - Lydia's dad and Daddy Chang's cold Asian parents. There are adult books that handle these with less grace than this does. Huge props, I love this so much.

[Taylor]

it was a great book it made me laugh a few times and i love books that make me laugh would be a good book for people who like picture books

[Rebecca]

This installment of the Popularity Papers moves away from the school and the premise of trying to become popular. This is a welcome change, despite the book being repetitive, because I didn’t really like that premise anyway.

This book focuses more on Julie’s parents, Daddy and Papa Dad, which I thought was really cool. This allows the book to contain one of the most heartfelt situations in the entire series, involving Daddy and his estranged conservative Chinese immigrant parents, Mah Mah and Yeh Yeh. This made me cry despite some other parts of this book being lackluster.

[Timothy young]

Great sequel for those who love the series

Great plot it's really cool to have them on the road

There are a lot of new characters but a lack of some of the biggest ones like the people at school, Ms.Goldblatt, and Melody isn't in it too much but great plot and probably my favorite one yet.
The end is a cliffhanger but got me really excited to read more!

[cat]

this book series was my childhood! ! ! this one is definitely my favorite in the entire series. . . its been ages since ive last read a book of the popularity papers, but i can still recall so much (e.g. bye-bye miss american pie, julies summer workshop, the smurf hair, the pushing incident, rattlesnake incident, earthquake, i could go on and on. . .)

[Kelly]

I really, really liked this book. The dialogue back and forth between the two girls, in journal form, is done well. And the pictures add to the story. And I loved the story and the background behind the two girls.

[Cate Barrett]

Our 2.5 year old will willingly sit through this as we read whole chapters to her. I don’t know how much she gets, but she likes the pictures and it’s fun to talk about the various locations and experiences on their road trip. And it’s not mind numbing for us! Win.

[Elpida]

This is definetely my favorite of the series!! It includes a fun road trip ,family bonding,friendship, dealing with family thag doesnt appreciate you and much more its just brilliant and i love it just as much as i did when i was 11!!

[Elyanna Rondon]

I personally like the first book better but this has an interesting story. You learn more about the character and about new ones too

[Crystal Rose]

Awesome, awesome, awesome! It was awesome! I can't wait to see how was Melody!

[Lisa Widel]

Lydia and Julie are back again. Visiting almost the whole Country. Love this book everyone should read it. Read it so many times. This series is so addicting I recommend this.

[ʙʀᴏᴏᴋʟʏɴ]

*3.9
Great book, and totally relatable!

[Natalie (Natflix&Books)]

3.5
I enjoyed seeing more of Julie's dads in this one, but was super annoyed at how big of a jerk Lydia's was. Still very much enjoying this series. On to book 5.

[Claire Anderson]

I loved it! Ending is SUCH a cliffhanger! I was engaged all the way through. Definetly 5 star rating.

[Lexi (seraphimchick)]

Nostalgic read. I adore it, but it isn’t perfect.

[Meghan]

Slowly catching up on my goal

[Avery N.]

Still good, I was pleasantly surprised.

[Katie Fitzgerald]

Though I have yet to get my hands on the third book in this series, I skipped ahead to Book Four anyway. It was just too irresistible! In this one, best friends Lydia and Julie set out on a road trip with Julie’s dads to visit various landmarks and family members, including Julie’s grandparents and Lydia’s father and his new family. Like the previous books, this one is presented in a notebook format, with the girls each scribbling messages, drawing pictures, and taping notes into the book for posterity. This format works exceptionally well with the road trip setting, and basically serves as a scrapbook of the trip. I love Julie’s illustrations of the scenery in different parts of the country, as well as the occasional postcards from Lydia’s sister Melody, who is spending the summer building houses in Guatemala, and Roland, the girls’ friend from school.

This book has the same light-hearted tone as the others in the series, but it also tackles some serious family conflicts. Julie’s conflict involves her grandparents’ refusal to allow Daddy and Papa Dad to stay in their home because of their sexual orientation. Lydia’s struggle comes from her father’s refusal to connect with her and his obvious preference for his new family. The girls see their families with new understanding and have to figure out how to relate to the people who disappoint and hurt them.

Rocky Road Trip truly is the perfect road trip book, with just the right mix of landmark visits, character conflicts, and scenes from the road. The bright and expressive illustrations will easily engage avid readers of graphic novels and other illustrated works, and the girls’ friendship and family dramas will keep tween girls turning the pages, anxious to find out how things turn out.

[Barbara]

Having successfully navigated sixth grade, best friends Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang embark on a roadtrip with Julie's two fathers while her mother returns to London, her sister Melody goes to Guatemala for a work project. After flying cross country, they drive across the United States, making stops along the way to see the sights and visit family members, including Lydia's father. While some of the sections featuring neat facts about the places they have visited seem as though they are commercials or attempts to drum up interest in tourist spots, the storyline allows the girls to continue to grow. As they watch the adults in their lives navigate their own family dynamics, they realize that no one is free from family expectations, even when he/she is a grown up, and that adults often make mistakes. Lydia and Julie are fortunate to have stable adults who care for them, but even those adults have their own set of parents to please. The ink, colored pencil, colored marker, yarn, and digital illustrations fit the girls' personalities perfectly, adding immeasurably to the pleasures of reading this title.

[Karen]

This is the only book in the series (so far) to almost be as good as the first one. The road trip plot device allowed the story to focus on relationships between a few characters, so the book got into more depth. I liked seeing more of Julie's dads, especially Daddy, whose quieter personality was not as apparent in the earlier books, and I appreciated how this book dealt with some heavier things. I loved Daddy and Lydia's conversation about their parents not seeing them for who they are, and the continued message that the dads' experience being gay has given them some life lessons that can be helpful to Lydia as well. (It always seems to be Lydia, not Julie, getting these lessons.) I liked seeing more of Melody as well and am hoping Lydia notices that her relationship with her sister is changing, as she doesn't seem quite aware of it yet. Also it felt like a relief to have one book in which the girls' social circle did not completely change, as that was veering on unrealistic, even for middle school.

[Shacoria]

I enjoyed the realistic portrayal of Lydia's relationship with her dad after her parents divorced. This is a situation that many children face and it is not often featured in children's literature, so I applaud the author for looking at things in a very real way. Certain other things in this book didn't really seem realistic. I don't know too many parents who go on vacation together just because the kids are friends. If the parents are also best friends, then it could happen, but most parents don't cater to their kids the way the parents do in this book. Also, I found the story line of one of the dad's parents not being accepting of him being gay to just be tired and old and overdone. Can we get one story with gay characters without the worn out story line of their parents not accepting them? I didn't really find the actual main story of this book to be as interesting because it didn't really fit with the overarching story of this book series. Still, this is a good book and it does help you to get to know the characters better.

[Jody]

God, I love Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang. I was so excited for this book to come out. Amy Ignatow does her usual wonderful job of capturing so much authentic personality in the dialogue and drawings.

This book gets into a little more serious subject matter, as Lydia visits her father (who we haven't heard much about until this point) and we get to meet both Daddy's and Papa Dad's parents (one set accepts them as a family, the other not so much).

Even though there are "issues" in this book, they are weaved into the narrative in a really seamless and natural way. It's not a book about divorce or gay parents. It's a book about friends on a road trip and all the things they experience, from finding the world's best burritos to working out how to create healthy relationships with difficult family members.

[alsace wu]

This book is about 2 girls and they are best friends, Julie Graham-Chang and Lydia Goldblatt. So in the holidays they go on a road trip together with Julie's dads around America. This book is just like their journal so they write about their travel and they write about what they see, eat , dress , and all that stuff. They also go to visit Julie's grand parents and Lydia's dad (Lydia's mom and dad divorced). Lydia dyed her hair blue using and she was being shouted at and Julie's grandparents didnt really like her other dad (she has 2 dads),

I recommend this book to girls because in this book it doesn't have things that boys might like because this book series is kind of girly.

I recommend this book to girls that are 10+ to read this because some things that younger kids may not understand.

[Jill]

This was a really fun book. I didn't think I was going to like it much because it jumped right in without any explanation of characters, etc, and so it was confusing. However, this is much as a diary would really be in real life and it didn't take me long to get all the characters straight. This would be a great recommend for older girls--younger ones who are good readers would probaly like it, but there is a reference to Santa in there that may make it inappropriate for the younger set. My daughter (8) wanted to read it and I let her start, but took it back the next day and ordered the 1st one for her. I also really liked that Julie has two dads. It's great to see this presented as a normal, every day thing!

[Kathy]

Reading this book was like getting back in touch with old friends. I hadn't realized how much I missed Lydia and Julie and their families. It was really great seeing them all again.

In each book, with no preaching or lectures, the two girls grow up a little more, and learn a few more lessons about dealing with other people.

The road trip involves, among other things, a visit with Julie's "grandparents" who have never accepted the homosexual relationship of Julie's two fathers. It's a tough situation, and very realistically portrayed.

I loved the first book in this series, and they just keep getting better. Do yourself a favor, and read them all.

[Donna]

In this fourth book of the series, Lydia and Julie end up on a cross country road trip with Julie's dads. Amy Ignatow infuses what could be a fairly stale introduction to U.S. geography with humor, family drama, and well developed characters. As with all of the Popularity Papers books, this one sneaks in a lot of story amid fun, bright illustrations. Issues of race and gay and lesbian families are incorporated without making any of the books into issue books. Instead, they are positive, joyful reads that well capture tween energy and enthusiasm.