The Popularity Papers (Book 6)

Overview

The Popularity Papers: Book Six, Love and Other Fiascos with Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang, is Amy Ignatow's 2013 illustrated middle-grade series installment. The collection includes five volumes from the series, and this record should be treated as a series member, not as an isolated LGBTQ-family title. Its significance is that Julie Graham-Chang's two fathers are part of the continuing family world of a mainstream comic school series. Abrams describes book six as a story about first romance and a family wedding, with Papa Dad anxious about Julie and Roland becoming a couple. School Library Journal's review of the first book identifies Julie as living with two dads, while CCBC notes the depth of secondary characters including Julia's gay dads. The series therefore offers incidental, recurring representation across middle-grade fiction.^[1][2][4]

Series Member Rather Than Isolated Title

The local record makes clear that the collection holds five Popularity Papers volumes. That matters because Julie's family cannot be evaluated from book six alone. Her two dads belong to a continuing comic school world in which friendship, popularity, art, music, dating, and family change recur across volumes. A collection record is clearest when it foregrounds the series structure. The LGBTQ-family representation is cumulative and ordinary, not a single problem plot. The Rainbow Book List and later challenge records also attach public attention to the series as a whole, which strengthens a cluster-level reading.^{[1][2][4][16][11]}

Book Six: Romance And Wedding

Abrams describes book six as a story in which Julie and Roland are an official couple, Papa Dad is anxious, and Lydia's mother announces a wedding to Coach Eric. That plot places family change and adolescent romance beside one another. For the collection, Papa Dad's anxiety is especially useful: Julie's fathers are not just background markers of representation; they appear inside the emotional management of a middle-grade relationship plot. The hardback and ebook records together preserve the title's print and digital publication trail.^{[2][6][3][18]}

Julie's Two Dads

School Library Journal's review of the first book identifies Julie as living with two dads, while the local catalog describes Julie Graham-Chang's parents as two gay men. CCBC's recommendation also names the gay dads among the series' distinctive secondary characters. Those sources support a careful claim: the series includes a child with two fathers as part of its regular social world. The representation is not the main plot of every volume, and that ordinariness is its value. Common Sense Media and the Guardian add further series-level evidence that the dads were legible to reviewers and readers outside local cataloging.^{[4][5][1][14][15]}

Scrapbook And Hand-Drawn Form

The Popularity Papers is told through illustrated journal and scrapbook pages by Lydia and Julie. That form matters because family representation appears in a highly personal, child-made visual surface rather than in neutral prose. The local catalog notes the hand-drawn journal quality, and School Library Journal describes the two different handwriting and drawing styles. This makes the series useful beside graphic and illustrated middle-grade records where identity is embedded in format as well as plot. That evidence keeps the record useful for researchers because it marks circulation, intended audience, and collection role rather than treating the title as a simple recommendation.^[1][4][2]

Timeline

1. 2010Series beginsThe first Popularity Papers book is published by Amulet Books.^[4]
2. 2010Two-dad family establishedSchool Library Journal identifies Julie as living with two dads in the first volume.^[4]
3. 2013Book six publicationAbrams records October 8, 2013 for the ebook edition of book six.^[2]
4. 2013Hardcover bibliographic recordYES24 and CBC preserve the hardcover ISBN and publication data.^[7][3]
5. 2014Series completionAbrams lists book seven after book six in the series trail.^[2]
6. 2023Television adaptationCorus and Deadline describe the Popularity Papers screen adaptation.^[9][10]
7. 2011Rainbow Book ListThe first Popularity Papers volume appeared on the 2011 Rainbow Book List.^[11]
8. 2013/2014Prosser challenge recordMarshall University records a challenge to the series in Prosser, Washington elementary libraries.^[16]

Popularity Papers In The Collection

The collection holds a partial run of the series.

Citation

The Popularity Papers (Book 6). Amy Ignatow. Amulet Books / Abrams, 2013. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-197.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

1. Local collection catalog record for The Popularity Papers (Book 6) · catalog
2. Abrams record for The Popularity Papers #6 ebook · publisher
3. Children's Book Council record for The Popularity Papers Book Six · publisher
4. CCBC recommendation for The Popularity Papers · review
5. CCBC recommendation for The Popularity Papers · review
6. Apple Books record for The Popularity Papers 6 · bookseller
7. YES24 bibliographic record for Book Six · bookseller
8. Children's Book Council cover record for Book Six · image
9. Corus press release for Popularity Papers television series · media
10. IMDb record for Popularity Papers television adaptation · media
11. ALA Rainbow Books archive for The Popularity Papers · access_history
12. Family Equality early-elementary book list · education
13. Existing v3 record for Luv Ya Bunches · internal
14. Common Sense Media review of The Popularity Papers · review
15. Guardian list naming Julie's parents in The Popularity Papers · review
16. Marshall University Banned Books entry for The Popularity Papers · access_history
17. Abrams author page for Amy Ignatow · creator
18. Talking Leaves record for the Book Six hardcover · bookseller