How to be Popular by Meg Cabot

Despite its rather misleading name, How to be Popular is not a self-help book.

I read this book for the first time a few years ago. I recently re-read because I recommended it to a friend and she borrowed it from a library and then I just had to borrow it from her. (I also read Cabot's Airhead in a similar manner two days before this one. My friends are now being cautious about reading books around me. On the other hand, I've always been like Katy from What Katy Did and my friends do tend to lock up their books when I come to visit. Which reminds me that I must review that book sometime.) Anyway, getting back on topic. I think How to be Popular is Cabot's best book for teens (better than Cabot's Princess Diaries series, which frankly got totally unfocused towards the end, much better than some of her other stuff like the Mediator Series, the All American Girl books, and other, crazier novels like Airhead, Jinx and Avalon High. I think the only ones that I can think of that come close are Teen Idol and Tommy Sullivan is a Freak. (I looked at this list. I've read too many Cabot books. This isn't even the complete list of the books I've read by her, and I don't even like her that much.)

One of the first things that I like about the book is the main character - Steph Landry is one of the best characters in teen fiction - not 'beautiful without knowing it' or even a 'braniac' (which is Em in Airhead, who even becomes 'drop-dead-gorgeous' by the end of the book. Now you see why I don't like it.) Steph is a normal girl with the most normal of all teenage problems - crushes, and weight, and school and getting a social life. Which makes her a perfect character for teenage fiction, because lets face it - not everyone reading this can be either beautiful, or extremely brainy, or both. Steph has been a social reject for many, many years - mostly because she dropped a drink on a friend's white skirt in school and never managed to live it down. (This I thought of as a little exaggerated, but its a novel, so alright). In fact, its so bad that anyone committing a faux pas in her town is told "Not to pull a Steph Landry."

Steph Landry gets her hands on a book - and some money, borrowed from her grandfather - and sets about revolutionizing her social life.

The title of this book - well, you guessed it - How to be Popular.

One of the things I like about this book is the way the author writes, where each (short) scene is interspersed with an extract from the aforementioned book, mostly one which pertains to the following scene. Meg Cabot does this really well in another series of hers that I like - the Queen of Babble (see, I told you I wasn't done) and it works in this book. Not to mention that the advice is actually slightly sound (things like 'be yourself') and reminds me a bit of the best self-help book I've ever read How to Win Friends and Influence People for Girls by Donna Dale Carnegie, which is always a plus. The writing is simple and effective, well targeted, and always interesting.

I really like how this book breaks stereotypes. Airhead, even though it is quite literally about two worlds colliding, still managed to make everyone from the super-model world come off as bland and stupid. In this book, on the other hand, we get characters like Darlene and Alyssa, who just make the book alive, and also characters like Jason (who is seriously almost exactly like Christopher from Airhead, though) and Becky who are also sweet and likeable. Even the main villian, Lauren, is interesting enough to make you want to see her get her due, instead of you just wanting her to get off the page because she's so diabolical and weird that you can see right through her. I also love, love the way this book ends. In a book that calls itself 'How to be Popular', this book certainly managed to disillusion teenagers about popularity as a concept and puts it in its place.

Final thoughts: Good writing, interesting characters, and even a message. It even holds up to a re-read. A good book for passing away some time, especially if you're a teenager.

Other things: Hmm...still reading Frankenstein, and I also started reading Two States by Bhagat (which is not half-bad so far). I don't know which one I'll review first.

A Little Princess by Frances H. Burnett

Some books stay with you your whole life. A Little Princess is one of them.

Thus it is not very surprising when I embarked on my latest quest to re-read the classics I'd loved as a child (and some which I'd hated, and others which I've not read before) I would go back to this book. But I will admit I was not quite sure about how good this book would be (part of the reason why I chose first to go back to Webster's Daddy Long-Legs, my review of which can be found here) because I remembered that the book had been a little slow in the beginning, and that Sara (the main character) was a bit of a Mary-Sue. In fact, I was quite sure that I would no longer like this book, and I was aghast at the thought of destroying a good childhood memory. However, yesterday I picked up the book.

I loved it.

The basic premise of this story is simple - when Sara first starts attending school, she quickly gains the reputation of being very rich and very eccentric. She is the richest pupil there (and certainly very spoiled by her father) and has got an imagination which is even richer - causing her to weave stories that enthrall those around her. In time, she even begins to pretend that she is a princess, because eventually she wants to be good, and kind, and generous as a princess should be. Most of the pupils in the school are quite enchanted by Sara (though, of course, some are jealous) and two in particular take a great fancy to her. Sara through her generosity and through her sweetness is able to make a lot of friends - with everyone from Lottie, who is four, to Becky, the unfortunate kitchen-maid.

However, when adversity strikes and Sara is left an orphan and penniless, a lot of things change. From being a show-pupil to a beggar, Sara must face the reality of a life without money and discover who her true friends in life really are. She must face the toughest adversity it is possible to face - not only physical (such as being forced to run errands and being deprived of meals) but also emotional (such as finding that many of her old friends no longer want anything to do with her). And she must discover many, many things about human nature - including whether or not it is possible to imagine in the midst of the worst of the troubles than life throws at us.

This book was not boring. Now that I'm older, I saw that there are many hidden themes in this book that I'd missed before - the theme of friendship, of love, of generosity in the worst of all circumstances (and not just by Sara), of imagination and of pretending, of beauty and home. This book is, in the end, a study in human nature. Sara remarks in the book that adversity can be the only test of character, and her adversity not only reveals the strength of her own character but also the characters of the people around her.

I did not find the writing slow or lagging. In fact, the first part which I found slow before was not half as slow this time, because I could appreciate much better the feelings of a father who is leaving his only child alone in a strange country, especially when she has been so close to him for so long. And I did not think Sara was a mary-sue. I know she should be - she's quite perfect, she is always nice, she is humble, she stands up against wrongs, and she believes all the good things that have happened to her are by 'accident' but Sara is just such a genuinely sweet character that you overlook that she is perfect. Also, she is not perfect all the time. There are times when she, too, is cross and angry and broken. She was very easy to sympathize with, even now that I'm 16 instead of 11 as I was when I was originally reading the book. (Incidentally, this is also Sara's age in the book). It is remarkable how Sara remains a princess through and through - through richness and poverty. The other characters are also very well written and compelling, from Lottie to the rat to the Indian servant.

Here's the true test of this book. When I first read the book at 11, I cried like a baby in the middle. I wondered if I would this time too.

This book can still make me cry, laugh, sigh and want to murder people. It still gives me hope. Sara still reminds me of myself - even now, at 16, the power to imagine has not (thank god!) disappeared.

Now I know the stuff classics are made of.

Final thoughts: This is a beautiful book for anyone who an imaginative young child (and maybe also for those less imaginative) and for anyone wanting to get back a piece of their childhood. Of course, like I noted when I wrote about Daddy Long-Legs, I believe kids nowadays might prefer the movie.movie.

Other things: Wondering whether to go next with Pride and Prejudice (which I've read before) or with Frankenstein (which I've not). Of course, I might just forget both and go with A Secret Garden. Library tomorrow is going to be exciting.

This book review is part of my great classics read (and re-read) project.

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster

Daddy Long-Legs is a sweet, wholesome, good, heartwarming book.

On Friday, we had a guest coming in school and talking (its 'Reading Week') and he talked a lot about how as we read more and more we must move to more difficult books to keep up our interest in reading. I think this is quite true. But I also believe that sometimes we must go back a few levels to the books of our childhood, because you can get awfully tired of reading important books with several layers, and subtext, and hidden meanings in every sentence, and once in a while you just want to read a simple, wholesome book (just as when you eat too much gourmet food you sometimes long for home-made food) and Daddy Long-Legs is one of those classics that you can pick up at any age - be it 10, 35, or 70 and still enjoy it for a few hours. So, I recently re-read this book, and I found that it still has the power to make me laugh and cry and sigh.

What is it that makes this book so amazing?

Well, the first thing is the main character - Jerusha Abbott (aka Judy), an orphan who has been sent by a mysterious trustee whom she has never seen to a college in order to become a writer. Jerusha is not perfect. She's impulsive, reckless, vain at times, and quite silly at others. But she is so honest, so genuinely nice, and so crazy and sweet that you can't help but like her. She's a refreshing character. She can be quite stubborn and pig-headed at times, doesn't see so much of what is right in front of her, and can be quite silly, but in the end you will love her for the other qualities that surpass these flaws. I also love the way the author is able to portray her growing up. In many ways this is an bildungsroman novel (a novel about growing up)but it is portrayed in a style so different from many of these that it is remarkable.

For one, it is epistolary (ie, most of the novel is in the form of letters written by Jerusha to her mysterious sponsor) and this is really one of the best parts of this novel. (In fact, the first time I read this book it was the first time I'd read a book like this, ever, and it really made a large impact on my life). Jerusha's little letters, filled with her lives and loves, with little illustrations, are really a joy to read. Webster has really been able to get into the skin of the character and capture the little eccentricities and crazinesses that make Jerusha, and therefore this book is a delight to read. Also, even though Jerusha never receives a single letter from Daddy Long-Legs, the subtle ways in which he shows his concern (and you see them even more on a re-read) are delightful to read about.

The other, minor characters, including Sally McBride, Julia and Jervie Pendleton, (and of course the all-elusive Daddy Long-Legs) are great. They're all also very human, and we see them from Jerusha's admiring (or not so admiring) eyes, and we fall in love with them ourselves. Even little things like horses and cows at a certain farm are part of Jerusha's little world, and for a few happy hours they become part of our world, too. Jerusha's story has the remarkable power of transporting one from complexity of our reality to a fantasy world which is simple, and child-like, and honest, and this is one of the best things about this book.

Final thoughts: This book is must-read for anyone who, like me, gets tired of life's complexities every once in a while. It is also a must-read for all kids, because every kid should have a nice childhood (even Jerusha expresses this in the book) and learn how to be different, and this is a brilliant book to teach them just that. (But maybe in today's day and age most kids will prefer the movie)

Other news: Still on my re-reading run, I will be borrowing 'A Little Princess' by Francis Hogdson Burnett which I have been trying to find at my house for months now, with no avail. Do you guys have any other recommendations for old, beautiful classics?

Also, I recently saw Dead Poets Society, a brilliant movie on a similar theme as this book, even if it is much more depressing. It is remarkable how important being different is in life - and how much one person can influence a young person.

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

The Dragonfly Pool is an Ibbotson classic.

Roughly translated, this means: its a warm, fuzzy, intelligent, cozy books to warm your days and capture your imagination. It's a feel-good, the kind of book I read in the same mood as when I read an Enid Blyton book, though I must admit that Ibbotson's books have a little more depth and a lot more relevance. She mostly writes in the time period within or around the second world war, which is not far enough to become archaic and impossible to related to, and not near enough to dispense the 'fairy-tale atmosphere' that this story has. In fact, who can't feel sympathetic for a young girl who is getting sent to boarding school due to the threat of the second world-war on her city - where her friends and family are still going to stay?

And that is exactly how the story of Tally, the heroine of 'The Dragonfly Pool' begins.

Tally is an amazing character. She's sweet, she's caring, she's sensitive and she's sensible. She doesn't thrown tantrums. She cares deeply for her family and friends and will often do crazy things to protect them. She cares enough to notice the importance of an old elm-tree in her new school, and most of all she never pretends to be anyone that she is not. Not even facing the Prince of Bergania is enough to make Tally lose her nerve or her head. In the hands of any other author, I think, Tally would have been one of those hideous mary-sues who can do no wrong, but Ibbotson converts this tricky heroine into a real, breathing girl who does make mistakes, who's determined without being pig-headedly obstinate, and who comes across as inquisitive and sweet instead of obnoxious and meddling.

There are some other great characters in this book - Tally's dad, Doctor Hamilton, who saves people's lives but is altruistic enough to not charge them as much as he can. Matteo, her new biology teacher, who can talk in five languages and who has the most amazing biology lessons ever imaginable. Julia, who suffers from parental neglect and a lot of psychological issues but still comes across as a good friends and a sweet girl, and finally Karil, the hero of our story, Prince of Bergania who wants nothing more than to be with the normal people. In many ways this may seem like a whole bunch of cliches and characters who're too good to be true, but you have to read the scene where Matteo tells Tally that no place in the world is truly all good to know that no, this is not an ordinary story and these are no ordinary characters. The bad characters, though decidedly 'evil' for most part, also have much more depth than most characters in children's fiction do. Scold, for example, is almost sure to be liked, despite being a major irritant to the hero's life.

But the most important part of this book is that is raises some very crucial questions about today's day and age, about how being different can be both a curse and a blessing, and about what is takes to be unique and proud of it. In Elderton, arguably the most unique and crazy school I've ever heard off (surpassing even Whyteleafe) we see what is most beautiful and most ugly about the process of growing up and facing the world - the struggle between conforming to what is normal and doing what you know is right. It's also a book about tolerance, and about the effects of war, and about how not everything is how you thought it was. It's an important book for children to read because of these messages, and they are what change this book from ordinary to above ordinary.

After reading three books by this author (namely The Star of Kazan [also a beautiful book, which you must read, if for nothing else for the gorgeous descriptions of Viennese culture and food and cooking], The Journey to the River Sea[a book about tolerance, dignity and breaking free from your self-imposed prisons[ and The Dragonfly Pool) I have started noticing some repeated themes that come up again and again in her works, like the curious and intelligent heroine (Annika, Maia and now Tally), going away from her home (Annika goes to germany, Maia to south america and Tally to Elderton), the mysterious guy she meets who changes her life(Zed, Finn and Karil) and her other [more-ordinary] friend (Stephen, Clovis and Kenny) who somehow helps her save the day. Of course, there are other differences between these stories, but these have come up enough for me to want to read something new by this author. Hopefully, in her later works (especially for older readers) like A Company of Swans, she changes this formula.

Final thoughts: Sweet, funny, beautiful and with a great message. Every kid should have this book as a companion when they grow up. Ibbotson writes simple stories remarkably well and will occupy a place in my heart (and bookshelves) forever.

The Naughtiest Girl in School - Enid Blyton

The Naughtiest Girl in School, by Enid Blyton, is the stuff that childhood is made up off.

Strange statement?

I have grown up reading Enid Blyton. From the "Secret Seven" series, to the "St. Clares" series, I have read almost everything she has written. I grew up with the adventures of Fatty (Five find-outers and a dog) and Darell Rivers (Malory Towers), and I have great respect and admiration for Enid Blyton. However, despite the fact that I've read and I own most of the other series of Enid Blyton, I never quite managed to read the naughtiest girl in school series. So when I saw it recently at a bookstore, and failed to force my brother to buy it for himself, I finally bought it for myself.

Here's what I discovered - the naughtiest girl is one of the most enjoyable of Enid Blyton's school series. The things that make me recommend it over her other school series are as follows - the main character, Elizabeth, is a lot of fun to read about, the school sounds amazing (and is co-ed) and there's a lot of drama in it that prevents this book from getting as dated as the rest of Enid Blyton's books have sadly become. (I am one of her greatest fans, but sadly even I can't find them completely up-to-date anymore.)

We'll start with Elizabeth. Elizabeth is spoilt, and rich, and highly naughty, which in itself will recommend this book to most of my generation. She's smart, very willful and independent. She's not beyond disrupting a class to get what she wants. But despite all this, she is very, very nice. She goes out of her way to help a friend (even though she breaks a dozen rules to do this), she is intelligent and thoughtful, and she really and truly struggles against making things hard for other people. Besides this, she is also interested in varied things such as music, dance, and riding, which make her very human. Through most of this first book, she is trying to behave badly to be sent home (very Mirabel from St. Clare's, especially as Joan is amazingly similar to Gladys, but eventually Elizabeth is a lot more likeable than poor Mirabel ever turns out to be.)

The second is the school. Whyteleafe is a school I would love to attend. It's liberal enough to let the students choose their own monitors and head-boys and head-girls, who have a committee each week where they punish students off their own accord. The Principals, who Elizabeth terms, 'The Beauty and the Beast' seem content to let the students govern themselves (if you're looking for a Ms. Theobald like character here, you will be sadly mistaken) and the teachers and fun-loving and interested in the students. There is a jolly atmosphere, and most importantly as it is a co-ed school, it prevents this book from getting extremely dated. (Sadly I don't think this would work anymore...)

The characters in this book, though reminiscent of characters from other Enid Blyton novels (especially in the case of the aforementioned Mirabel from St. Clare's and Gladys from the same series, who represent Elizabeth and her only friend in the school - Joan) are very well-developed. This book deals with slightly more complex issues like the death of a sibling and arrogance which are not dealt with substantially in any of her other series. This book is a great read, which principles of morality and good conduct and honor that I wish were still as strongly upheld among children, but which is not by any means a preachy book.

This book is, essentially, a book that reminds me of childhood.

Final thoughts: This book is sweet and pretty much timeless. I read Enid Blyton when I want something simple, and just plain uncomplicated, with no 'evil' and no 'badness' and happy endings - when I'm tired of things that 'mean too much' or that I have to analyze. I really recommend this book to everyone. I mean, its just so hard to believe that this book was written in 1940!