The Popularity Papers (Book 1)

Overview

The Popularity Papers book one introduces Amy Ignatow's illustrated middle-grade series through the popularity project shared by Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang. The local collection holds this first volume as part of a partial run rather than as a single isolated LGBTQ-family title. Book one is the cluster anchor because CCBC, the Rainbow Book List, Common Sense Media, the Guardian, and Marshall University challenge records attach much of the public evidence to the first volume or to the series as a whole. CCBC and other series-level sources identify Julie's two fathers as part of the continuing social world. The item-specific value of book one is form and origin: it establishes the hand-drawn notebook method through which friendship, school life, and family context recur.^[1][2][8][9]

Cluster Anchor

Book one is the most useful member record for orienting the Popularity Papers cluster. The collection holds books one, two, three, four, and six, but the broad public evidence begins here: CCBC records the 2010 Amulet publication and review context, the Rainbow Book List names the first volume in 2011, and later access-history records refer to the series. Treating book one as an anchor keeps the shared evidence in one place while allowing the other volumes to carry their own bibliographic and plot differences.^{[1][8][9][10]}

The Popularity Project

Abrams describes the first book around Lydia and Julie's effort to study popularity before middle school. That premise gives the series its comic research frame and explains the scrapbook surface: lists, notes, observations, drawings, and alternating styles turn social anxiety into a child-made document. For the collection, that form matters because family representation appears inside a school-and-friendship experiment. Julie's household is part of the observed social world, not an issue that suspends the ordinary pressures of popularity, friendship, and self-presentation.^[2][18][8]

Two-Dad Series Context

The strongest LGBTQ-family evidence for the cluster is series-level rather than volume-by-volume. CCBC names Julie's gay dads among the secondary characters, the Guardian describes Daddy and Papa Dad as ordinary in the books' world, and Marshall's challenge entry identifies one protagonist as having two fathers. Those sources support a careful claim for book one: the first volume helps establish a continuing series world in which Julie's two-dad family is visible. They do not support inflating every later member into a separate two-dad plot.^{[8][11][10][1]}

Scrapbook Form

The local catalog describes hand-drawn illustrated journal entries, while CCBC notes the distinctive styles and many illustrations that separate the girls' voices. This form is a central reason the series belongs in the collection. It places identity, school life, and family background on pages that look made by children, with drawing and handwriting doing interpretive work alongside prose. Book one establishes that visual grammar for the run, making it the natural member to connect with graphic, illustrated, and diary-form records elsewhere in the collection.^[1][8][2]

Timeline

1. 2010Book one publicationCCBC and Open Library preserve the first volume's 2010 publication trail.^[8][14]
2. 2010Anchor volumeThe first volume establishes the popularity project and the scrapbook form.^[2][8]
3. 2011-01-15Rainbow Book ListThe first volume appeared on the 2011 Rainbow Book List.^[9]
4. 2011-12-01Book two ebook recordAbrams dates the book-two ebook record to December 1, 2011.^[3]
5. 2011/2013Book three edition trailThe local record dates book three to 2011, while Abrams records a later paperback date.^[1][4]
6. 2012-04-01Book four ebook recordAbrams dates the book-four ebook record to April 1, 2012.^[5]
7. 2013-10-08Book six recordAbrams records the book-six ebook publication trail in 2013.^[7]
8. 2013/2014Prosser challengesMarshall University records challenges to the series in Prosser, Washington elementary libraries.^[10]

Popularity Papers In The Collection

The local collection holds a partial run of the seven-book series.

Citation

The Popularity Papers (Book 1). Amy Ignatow. Amulet Books / Abrams, 2010. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-193.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

1. Local collection catalog record for The Popularity Papers (Book 1) · catalog
2. Abrams record for The Popularity Papers book one · publisher
3. Abrams record for The Popularity Papers book two · publisher
4. Abrams record for The Popularity Papers book three · publisher
5. Abrams ebook record for The Popularity Papers book four · publisher
6. Abrams paperback record for The Popularity Papers book four · publisher
7. Abrams record for The Popularity Papers book six · publisher
8. CCBC recommendation for The Popularity Papers · review
9. ALA Rainbow Book List archive for The Popularity Papers · award_list
10. Marshall University Banned Books entry for The Popularity Papers · access_history
11. Guardian list naming The Popularity Papers · review_list
12. Common Sense Media review of The Popularity Papers · review
13. Google Books record for The Popularity Papers book four · library
14. Open Library ISBN metadata for The Popularity Papers book one · library
15. Open Library ISBN metadata for The Popularity Papers book two · library
16. Open Library ISBN metadata for The Popularity Papers book three · library
17. Open Library ISBN metadata for The Popularity Papers book four · library
18. Apple Books record for The Popularity Papers book one · bookseller
19. Corus press release for The Popularity Papers television series · media
20. IMDb record for The Popularity Papers television adaptation · media
21. Abrams author page for Amy Ignatow · creator
22. Open Library cover image for this Popularity Papers volume · image