Deep Down Popular

I loved the narrator's voice in this book. A fun, beautiful read.

"All the popular kids play piccolos or flutes. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because they just naturally gravitate towards that high-pitched stuck-up sound."

Genius.

{My thoughts} – An innocent story of a young girl with a crush on the popular boy in her class. Jessie Lou seems to have had a crush on Conrad Parker Smith for as long as she can remember. When he loses his popularity she helps him and becomes one of his closest friends.

I really enjoyed this story. It’s about the small town life. It’s about the importance of friends and family. It’s about being yourself, finding your place and showing others how great you are.

I recommend this book for any child trying to find their place in the world. That anyone growing up in a small town surrounded by the same individuals can relate. Any child just looking for a book to pass the day away will likely enjoy reading it as well.

The nonfiction novel, 'Deep Down Popular' by Phoebe Stone is an inspiration story. The book follows the story of Jessie Lou Ferguson, who is deeply in love with Conrad Parker Smith since grade two. Conrad is the most popular boy in the town Virginia, where as Jessie Lou has part-time friends only, but when Conrad is forced to wear a metal leg brace, his popularity goes crossing. Soon Jessie Lou, Conrad and an annoying fourth grader, other wise known as Quentin form a friendship and are on a mission to save the Baileys Hardware store from closing. The main theme of the story is not to judge people by the way they look, but by what they are on the inside. 'Deep Down Popular' is set after school, as Jessie Lou is too shy ti talk to Conrad show more during school hours and only communicates with him after school, but she slowly grows confident throughout the book. To tell the story, Phoebe Stone uses descriptive language, imagery and colloquial language.

The descriptive language used, helped to create a well written novel. "Inside-out with joy" was one way Jessie Lou had described herself, allowing the readers to understand her emotions. "Lonely old river" had also been another phrase used to explain the Virginia river. There was a lot of descriptive language inside the book, and it was also extremely poetic.

To make the readers feel involved, imagery was used. "Sometimes a poem will wait and hover under the surface, making me feel like I might split into two getting it out" was one of the imagery lines found. This line caused the reader to visualize Jessie Lou splitting in half and shows the difficulty poet have when they write, including herself. Describing the smell with imagery was also common.

The colloquial language set the book. The characters had a southern accent and background. "Y'all have yourself a real nice day Jessie," was spoken by Jessie Lou's part-time friends, Elizabeth and Sarah. Characters had called there mother "mama" and grandfathers "granddaddy." "Y'all" was common throughout the novel as it was part of the colloquial language that helped give an understanding of the characters personality's and how they spoke.

My favorite character was Jessie Lou as she seemed more realistic than most characters and as the story was told from her perspective. The book kept myself guessing and asking questions because it was somebody's life, which could have changed at any second. My favorite event would have to be when Jessie Lou and her sister connected. They understood how each other felt and how alike they were, putting their differences aside for once, instead of rivaling against each other. The novel kept myself, reading its contents and had its grip on me.

'Deep Down Popular' is a well written novel. I didn't dislike the entire book. The only part that I found disappointing was when Jessie Lou would continually go on about being a poet, but there were only two poems, although the description made up for it.

I would suggest this novel to young female children. From the age of nine and up is my recommended age group. I would definitely recommend this to any middle aged school girl, looking for a good read.

five out of five stars
I chose this rating because the book was well thought out and had humor to keep the readers entertained. 'Deep Down Popular' is an extremely descriptive book. The story met my expectations and wen beyond. I thought it was a perfect love story with a twist of inspiration/ Phoebe Stone's book has by far entertained me. show less

In this heart-warming tale, Jessie Lou Ferguson becomes friends with formerly popular boy Conrad Parker. Jessie Lou has always liked Conrad, but she is no where near his league. But when Conrad develops a problem with his leg and must drop soccer, he suddenly is not so popular anymore. Jessie Lou is asked by their teacher to help Conrad home and soon they start to hang out. A mystery, friendships, and a seeming miracle all combine to create a sweet tale about life for one girl.

So peacefully and simply fine that when I read the last page I started paging back through to connect with Jessie Lou and Conrad and Quentin again and then just started it all over. Certainly in the top five on my list for this year's Newbery Award. Five Stars ***** Highest recommendation -- thank you Phoebe Stone for writing this story.

I loved this book! It's a regular love-story, except in elementary school. I think this book is creative, marvolous, and spectacular! Everyone should read it since it is such a great book. It almost made me cry. =D

This was an ok book. I found it was really slow, but it had a cute endding. I would recomend it to elemety school kids (grades 2-5) that dont like fanasy or magic books.