Title: Populazzi
Author: Elise Allen
Pages: 400 (hardcover)
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Publication Date: August 1, 2011
Source: Author
Overall:
Cara has never been one of those girls: confident, self-possessed, and always ready with the perfect thing to say. A girl at the very top of the popularity tower. One of the Populazzi.
Now, junior year could change everything. Cara’s moving to a new school, and her best friend urges her to seize the moment—with the help of the Ladder. Its rungs are relationships, and if Cara transforms into the perfect girlfriend for guys ever-higher on the tower, she’ll reach the ultimate goal: Supreme Populazzi.
The Ladder seems like a lighthearted social experiment, a straight climb up, but it quickly becomes gnarled and twisted. And when everything goes wrong, only the most audacious act Cara can think of has a chance of setting things even a little bit right.
Hilarious and realistic, Populazzi will charm readers with it's seamlessly captured high school ambience. Allen crafts a fun story with the cliques, groups, and experiences. The lesson 'searching for whom you are and becoming someone who's not you, but then finding yourself again' is perfectly captured in Populazzi.
With Allen's writing being very engaging and appealing, readers will be hooked from the very start until the finish. Her writing also has a spark of humor and with the many various high school scenes that she remarkably portrayed, readers won't be able to help themselves but laugh.
Cara went under multiple transformations throughout the novel. She's likable and adorable, had her ups and downs, but was also very brave. At times, I was rooting for her and was hoping she'd get what she desired, but at other times as well, I couldn't help but judge her actions as she started loosing her own self and transforming into someone who isn't her.
The jargon, abbreviations, and lingo that Allen had twisted in with the story was amusing and humorous. It was fun to read all throughout with the silly or witty moments. Populazzi is one of those 'rise and fall' of popularity books but Allen made it unique as she added in twists along the way.
If you're looking for something light and fluffy, and a little thought provoking, Populazzi is the perfect read!
