Populazzi

ORIGINALLY POSTED http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/2011/08/populazzi-by-elise-allen/

Ah, you know those books/movies with have moments so embarrassing that you almost can’t read/watch? Populazzi had a ton of those moments. But they were amazing. I was cringing and laughing at nearly every page.

Sure, Populazzi is a bit shallow at first glance. Cara’s goal for the school year at her new school is to climb the social ladder – by dating guys from each rung. Pretty shallow, right? But despite that, there’s something so utterly relatable about it, not to mention the lessons Cara learns about herself and life as the story goes on.

While I was reading Cara’s story through her eyes, I never had the moment where I wanted to be her, or show more her best friend. In fact, I almost felt like her big sister reading her diary. I just wanted to shake her and convince her not to go out with that boy and not to drink that. She definitely had the voice of a high school girl, and I really appreciated that.

Archer! I love love love love Archer on so many freaking levels. I loved his character and his mother and his ping pong charts and the way he was so grossed out at the foods Cara ate and I just…he was perfect. High school needs more guys like Archer.

Overall, I loved Populazzi. It’s an awesome and fun story that definitely brings on giggles and your own embarrassing memories of high school. The characters were well done and relatable, and the storyline grabbed me and wouldn’t let me put it down. show less

http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2011/01/populazzi.html
I love love love this book! I sat down to read it and didn't stop for three and half hours straight, and was surprised to look up and find so much time had passed. The story is so gripping and compelling that I was totally swept along with it and I was completely immersed in Cara's world.

Cara is such a likable character. She's flawed - tremendously - and at times I wanted to slap her and scream at her to wake up and see what's going on, but at all times I just wanted everything to work out for her. All the characters are real, none of them are "stock characters" or stereotypes, and I think it's amazing the way I was able to tell from the moment each character is introduced show more whether he/she is one of the "good guys" or "bad guys." Aside from the fact that the good guys are all in the lower levels of the Popularity Tower, I genuinely liked Archer and the Happy Hopeless guys the second I "saw" them.

As for Archer - he's the character I liked most at first sight. I love the banter that Archer and Cara have right when they meet, and their conversations throughout are always entertaining. His personality is really great, and the way he stands by Cara as she goes a bit crazy in her scheme is wonderful. The romantic component kept me guessing right till the end, and it adds delicious tension to all their interactions.

The style of the writing is another great factor. It's breezy and fast-paced, and it gets slower and heavier when events do. It reflects the way a high school junior thinks and talks, which adds to the immersion effect, of being totally in Cara's world - and in her mind as well.

This is a fun read, with a great message, brilliantly portrayed! show less

Ever since an unfortunate pants-peeing incident in kindergarten, Cara and Claudia have been best friends and social outcasts. They would love to be among the populazzi, the highest social tier in high school, but know that they have no chance of overcoming the social stigma of being a pants-wetter. When Cara's family moves to another Philadelphia suburb, Claudia informs her that this is her chance to ascend the social ladder, using her as-yet unpatented method, aptly known as The Ladder. All Cara has to do is date increasingly high status boys until she reaches the ultimate position of Supreme Populazzi. There's no way this could go wrong, right?

Likely, you have discerned that there are in fact myriad ways in which this little scheme show more could go south, and pretty much every single one will in fact occur, except for the difficulty of not being able to find boys. This is one of those books that is just remarkably painful to read, because it is chock full of dramatic irony, perhaps moreso than a horror movie. (I hate horror movies) Pretty much everything Cara does makes me want to shake her really hard, or at least shake the book really hard and yell at it, except that I was reading it on a computer.

Here's the thing. This popularity drama is very immediate when you're a high schooler, but, generally, by the time you're out of college, you're over it and realize how ridiculous it all was. Because of this, I mostly just felt incredibly awkward and sorry for Cara, while also thinking she deserved most of what came to her. In high school, I was probably on a lower tier than the happy hopeless, but I still would never have gone to such lengths. Admittedly, Cara would not have either, had it not been for the persistent urgings of Claudia, who I hated (despite the fact that she regularly quoted Shakespeare, which is awesome).

However, this book was not all bad by any means. I thought the writing was pretty good, and, though I didn't like most of them, she did write stellar and dynamic characters. My favorite, of course, was Archer, although I also felt like shaking him occasionally. My favorite scenes were almost all within the first hundred pages; Archer and Cara have such a realistic flow to their conversation, which makes them completely charming. They also make tons of bad jokes and accidentally say inappropriate things and play ping pong like champs. I wish I could have hung out with someone like Archer in high school!

I recommend Populazzi for those interested in themes of popularity and the expected messages that follow such a topic. While not my main interest by any means, this was definitely a much better read than anticipated. I would definitely be willing to read more from Allen in the future. Let's get some more nerdy characters, like Robert and Archer! show less

This was a very cute light read, which is nice once in a while after reading more intense novels. Elise Allen did a great job of making the story unique with an adequete amount of twists and turns to make you want to keep reading. I enjoyed the "popular" group and enjoyed the main character Cara and the whole premise of climbing the social ladder. The only character that really got under my skin was Cara's best friend, I felt like she only cared about herself and really just left a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted to constantly smack some sense into her!! The rest of the characters were very likeable, and I really enjoyed the story.
The story could have been very predictable considering the idea of a not popular girl becoming popular and show more the rise and fall of her popularity, but Elise Allen did a phenomanal job with keeping this book unique and unpredictable, A lot of the twists and turns I had no idea were going to happen, it was a fast read and I stayed glued to the story until I was finished. I cannot wait to see what other great books Elise Allen has in store for us!!

You should all check this book out, you won't be dissapointed!!! show less

Cross “Mean Girls” and “Never Been Kissed,” throw in a potent dash of TV shows like the new “90210″ and mix with a side of “She’s All That” (oh, the ’90s!) for a taste of Elise Allen’s Populazzi, a young adult novel with plenty of sass mixed with its teen angst.

Being a fan of teen flicks, I had a feeling Allen’s Populazzi would capture much of the spirit I enjoy about those films: the desire to stand out while still fitting in; the pressure to find a boy/girlfriend and keep them; the hope of being liked and understood by a good group of friends . . . these are the issues that devour our energy in youth. And though I’m a decade removed from that time of my life, it’s not hard to put myself back there.

What show more I’d hoped to find in Populazzi, Cara’s story of rising to power in a suburban Pennsylvania high school, was there . . . if a little less compelling than I’d hoped. Not to sound like a big ol’ prude, but I found the novel’s focus on sex, drug use and changing to ascend a fictional “Ladder” to “Supreme Populazzi” a little unsettling. Though she’s eventually held accountable for her actions, Cara lies to her parents, sneaks around, dresses a “part” and almost sabotages her future by missing a very important college-related meeting. And subplots involving a creepy, emotionally abusive stepfather and pot-smoking ex-boyfriend left a sour taste in my mouth.

Though the ultimate message of the story was positive (be yourself and behave yourself), Cara had to go on quite a journey to get there. I couldn’t help but feel like Claudia, her best friend at the school Cara left behind, was intentionally leading her astray. Encouraging her to make bold moves without having to deal with the fall-out, giving her seemingly ridiculous advice about dumping dudes to “move on to the next one” in the name of popularity . . . well, it smacked of poor judgment. And being mean.

I guess that’s my major hang-up with the story: Cara didn’t endear herself to me. I found her actions callous at best and dangerous at worst. Becoming “emo” to attract the attentions of a bad-boy rocker goes contrary to every bit of advice we’re given when looking for a partner: don’t change for anyone else. And though I hate sounding like a serious fuddy-duddy, that didn’t work for me.

But. Despite my reservations and occasional discontent, Populazzi is an entertaining tale in the vein of those aforementioned ’90s teen flicks. It’s fun. Archer, our male hero, has plenty of swoonworthy moments with our lead . . . albeit their timing is continuously off throughout this big novel. We spend half our time wondering if Cara and Archer will cast aside their squabbles to actually communicate around their epic miscommunication, but I had a hunch — call it readerly intuition — that this one would have a happy ending.

And it did. For all her wardrobe changing, personality shifting, friendship busting and hot guy crushing, Cara ultimately sees the value of doing the right thing — and when given a chance to ruin someone else’s life for the sake of popularity, she makes a surprising decision. I felt a sense of maternal pride in our heroine then — and realized with a jolt that I’m starting to feel maternal toward teen characters.

Fans of young adult fiction and stories where the “mean girls” get theirs will find some humor and heart in Allen’s Populazzi. As the characters often find themselves in pretty “adult” situations and there’s plenty of frank talk about sex, drinking, etc., I wouldn’t recommend it to readers younger than 16. show less

I don't know what it is, but I seriously love to see the many ways high school cliques can be described - and let me tell you, some of the nicknames are really clever! Populazzi was no different, but this nice thing is that Elise Allen kept it pretty simple with 4 types: Happy Hopeless, Cubby Crew, DangerZone, and Populazzi (with a Supreme Populazzi in charge).

Cara is the typical new girl in a new school who can basically re-invent herself and work her way up to Populazzi glory. She's not so gung ho about it as her best friend Claudia who is left behind at the old school, but she seems to be off at a good start when she encounters a Cubby Crew boy named Archer. According to Claudia's research, Cara should date him to up her social ante show more and then dump him for a DangerZone, repeat the cycle until she goes in for the gold. Yet Cara seems quite content with Archer, and she's not sure if she wants to move up the ladder. The only question is: Does Archer like her back?

Populazzi will take you through the social Tower of Power - and I promise that you'll have oodles of fun and laughs as Cara goes through her multiple transformations to become the "dream girl" for each boy type. Practically I realize that girls shouldn't change themselves for a boy, but as gimmick to climb the social ladder it is quite funny to see how the rest of the school would react to Cara's antics!

I loved the characters that Ms. Allen brought to life - and each of them had their ups and downs, pros and cons, and I think she captured high school in all its colorful glory! As for me, I think my high school self would have fit into the Cubby Crew somewhat, but I'd like to think that I had a Happy Hopeless in me! show less

POPULAZZI, by Elise Allen, is a fantastic contemporary novel about the psychology behind the 'popular' group in high school. Cara and her best friend Claudia have figured out how to turn from new-girl into the Supreme Populazzi. By dating boys on certain rungs of The Ladder a girl can turn from invisible to the top of the high school food chain . These two girls plot and plan to get Cara to the top at her new school.

This book really surprised me! Even though Cara and Claudia's plan was extremely shallow and there were so many ways it could have failed, these girls really learned a lot by pursuing it. The first day of school Cara met a boy she absolutely fell for, Archer. But with their relationship not going anywhere Cara turned back to show more The Ladder and her life turned upside down. Cara and Claudia went all out to create the persona for Cara at each stop on The Ladder.

Allen brought up a lot of teen issues such as peer pressure, drugs, drinking, and sex. But along with the hard issues, Allen brought a lot of humor along. Just as a warning I wouldn't recommend this book to teens in the lower end of the YA bracket.

I loved Cara and Claudia together. At times Claudia was a bit pushy with The Ladder thing but I think these two best friends learned a lot in the process. Allen did a great job with turning points. Just when I thought Cara was in the worst situation, there was another one right on her tail. And when they weren't mad at each other, I adored the chemistry and friendship between Cara and Archer. They were perfect for each other and I cheered for them the whole time!

Overall, this was really a fantastic book. Allen created some great characters and a fantastic plot that kept me hooked! show less