Amy Ignatow

A whimsical tale told in scrapbook style follows the haphazard efforts of a pair of best friends who resolve to conquer middle school, an endeavor that tests the limits of their friendship. A first novel.

Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang

The Popularity Papers

After spending a year studying popularity, Julie and Lydia are finally ready to put their hard-earned lessons to use in junior high. But before they can conquer the world together, Lydia's mom gets a job in London. Full color.

The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang

The Popularity Papers: Book Two

Lydia and Julie decide to start a rock band with their friends, unfortunately, none of them are very good musicians and suddenly the whole school knows about their band and wants to hear them play.

The Popularity Papers: Book Five: The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldbltatt and Julie Graham-Chang

Twelve-year-old best friends Julie and Lydia are reunited after six months apart, but the news that their friend Sukie's mother has died after a long illness causes them to reevaluate their goals and focus on being supportive of the friends they already have.

Words of (questionable) wisdom from Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang

What do you get when you mix a sci-fi nerd, a cartoonist, a social outcast, and the most popular girl in school with a mysterious bus crash? Some very specific--and mighty odd--superpowers. Martina can change her eye col∨ Nick can teleport four inches to the left; Farshad can develop super strength, but only in his thumbs; and Cookie can read minds, when those minds are thinking about directions. Starring a diverse group of kids, this series' multiple narrators make for a quirky, contemporary read that tackles identity and stereotypes. Praised widely, Ignatow's characters have been called "very real" by the New York Times and "completely convincing" by the New Yorker.

The Mighty Odds (the Odds Series #1)

Words of (Questionable) Wisdom from Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang

The Popularity Papers: Book Three

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 Rocky Road Trip of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang (The Popularity Papers #4)

Lydia and Julie have been through many adventures as they navigated junior high, popularity, families, and friendship. In the final adventure in the series, the peaceful world of Hamlin Junior High is rocked when Lydia and Julie learn that they’re going to have to play host to new students whose school burned down. The outside threat bands the Hamlin kids together against a common enemy—for a while. When the enemy gets their hands on Lydia and Julie’s notebook, no one wants anything to do with the girls. It’s the biggest threat to their friendship (and a pretty definitive failure of their quest for popularity), and it can only be solved one way. Two words: dance battle.

The Less-Than-Hidden Secrets and Final Revelations of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (The Popularity Papers #7)

Love is in the air! Julie and Roland are an official “couple,” which means . . . well, they’re not exactly sure what, except that it makes Papa Dad extremely anxious. Meanwhile, Lydia’s mom announces that she’s marrying Coach Eric (the soccer coach from England), and Lydia and her sister, Melody, are not happy about it. With the wedding date looming, the girls will have to figure out how to accept the inevitability of change—and that even if the change isn’t what you thought you wanted, it can still end up all right, as long as you have good friends at your side. Praise for The Popularity Papers: Book Six "Julie and Lydia discover just how rocky the road to romance can be in the sixth installment of Ignatow’s Popularity Papers… fans of the series will be rewarded with plenty of giggle-worthy antics from Julie and Lydia." --Kirkus Reviews

Love and Other Fiascos with Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang (The Popularity Papers #6)

For use in schools and libraries only. From the renowned author/illustrator of the Popularity Papers series, Amy Ignatow, comes the first installment in a new series about a diverse crew of middle school kids who develop very limited superhero powers after a strange accident and manage to become unlikely friends on the adventure of a lifetime. When a sweet nerd, an artsy cartoonist, a social outcast, and the most popular girl in school are involved in a mysterious bus accident, this seemingly random group of kids starts to notice some very strange abilities they did not have before. Artsy Martina can change her eye color. Nerdy Nick can teleport . . . four inches to the left. Outcast Farshad develops super strength, but only in his thumbs. And Cookie, the It Girl of school's most popular clique, has suddenly developed the ability to read minds . . . when those minds are thinking about directions. They are oddly mighty--especially together. This group--who would never hang out under normal circumstances--must now combine all of their strengths to figure out what happ

The Mighty Odds

Jarrett J. Krosoczka

As told through a mix of comics, doodles, and journal entries, Christina Starspeeder takes us on a new adventure at an all-new Jedi Academy campus! There are unfamiliar faces and old ones too, but one thing remains the same: Jedi Academy is full of laughs and warm moments that fans and readers discovering the series for the first time will love.

Revenge of the Sis

Jarrett Krosoczka

Christina Starspeeder graduates in this 9th volume in the New York Times bestselling series Star Wars: Jedi Academy!

At Last, Jedi

"It's summer break, and Julie and Lydia 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 visiting friends and relatives all across the USA."--Page 4 of cover.

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

Book Five: The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang

Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are best friends with one goal: to crack the code of popularity. Lydia’s the bold one: aspiring theater star, stick-fighting enthusiast, human guinea pig. Julie’s the shy one: observer and artist, accidental field hockey star, faithful recorder. In this notebook they write down their observations and carry out experiments to try to determine what makes the popular girls tick. But somehow, when Lydia and Julie try to imitate the popular girls, their efforts don’t translate into instant popularity. Lydia ends up with a bald spot, their parents won’t stop yelling, and Julie finds herself the number-one crush of Roland Asbjørnsen. Worse, they seem to be drifting farther and farther from their goal—and each other. Amy Ignatow’s hilarious debut novel introduces the intrepid fifth-graders Julie and Lydia, whose quest to understand popularity may not succeed in the ways they want, but will succeed in keeping readers in stitches. From Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: Lydia and Julie, BFFs since birth, are now preparing to enter junior high, and they're on a mission to become popular. First, however, they have to determine exactly how popularity is achieved, so they decide to approach the matter as any good scientist would: observe those creatures already at the height of popularity and apply said observations to themselves, in the hopes of cracking into that mysterious world of junior-high stardom. The two record their observations and the often spectacularly unsuccessful outcomes of their various social experiments in a scrapbook-like journal, complete with notes passed at school, lists of projected popularity goals, and credibly goofy and kidlike drawings. The story here is fairly familiar: the girls fail miserably at their first attempts at the A-list (Lydia's hair falls out after a botched dye job, among other disasters) but eventually find acceptance in the upper echelon, only to learn the valuable lesson that it's the people you're most comfortable around who make the best friends. The diary format, however, adds an extra dimension of funny, and as in Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid series about Greg Heffley, it allows Julie and Lydia to come alive through their witty dialogue, their perceptive commentary, and even their characteristic handwriting. Secondary characters shine as well, particularly Julie's embarrassing but ultimately charming two dads, along with Lydia's goth-punk sister, a font of random quips and junior high wisdom. The popular kids end up being far from perfect and each has issues of her own to contend with, making the actual friendships that form among the girls all the more endearing. Those waiting for the next installment of Greg Heffley's adventures will be well served by this amusing experiment in sixth-grade celebrity. KQG

Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (The Popularity Papers #1)

Best friends Julie and Lydia are back in this hilarious sequel to Amy Ignatow's breakout novel! After spending all of fifth grade studying popularity together, Julie and Lydia are finally ready to put their hard-earned lessons to use in junior high. But before they can, tragedy strikes: Lydia's mom gets a job in London for six whole months! Before Lydia can say "fancy a cup of tea?" she's thrust into a new school, where she earns a reputation as "the Violent American." Meanwhile Julie's stuck navigating the cliques of American junior high on her own, where she is adopted by a group of troublemaking eighth graders known as the Bichons. The two best friends will have to learn to keep in touch and stand on their own, assisted as always by their trusty notebook. Amy Ignatow's signature sense of humor is on full display in this satisfying sequel.

The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang (The Popularity Papers #2)

Originally published in hardover in 2014 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. This edition published in 2015 by Amulet Paperbacks.

Book Seven: The Less-Than-Hidden Secrets and Final Revelations of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang

"Lydia & Julie's private notebook"--Cover.

Book Six: Love and Other Fiascos with Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang

Love's in the air as Julie and Roland become an official "couple" and Lydia's mom announces her intention to marry Lydia's soccer coach.

Love and Other Fiascos with Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang

Junior high girls Julie and Lydia deal with romance issues as Julie and Roland become an official couple and Lydia's mom announces she is getting married.

Amy Ignatow

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