A Fun and Colorful Way to Get Students to Love Reading!

Title: The Popularity Papers 2: The Long-Distance Dispatch

Author: Amy Ignatow

Copyright: 2013

Publisher: Amulet Books

Guided Reading Level: S

Genre: Fiction/Graphic Novel 

Summary: Diversity, diversity, diversity! This incredibly interesting graphic novel will make any child want to read about the adventures main characters Lydia and Julie encounter during their first year of junior high school. The story is initially about main character Lydia moving to London because her mom accepted a job there, and main character Julie staying put at the school Julie and Lydia attended together. As the two main characters are living their lives in different countries, they both decide to keep their own distinct artistic journal about their interesting adventures. Both characters draw some hilarious pictures (Lydia's artistic contributions are crazy) for their journals, and when readers see these pictures, it makes them fall more and more in love with the story, and especially the characters. Author Amy Ignatow cleverly includes diversity in her novel as Lydia's sister is gothic, and Julie's parents are two dads. Ignatow creates a level of acceptance with the level of diversity in this novel because of how controversial these topics can be to our society - and it is so incredibly important for students to read about such topics in order for them to become amazing and accepting children. Ignatow also incorporates vocabulary in the novel in an excellent way - she describes many difficult words as they appear in various creative ways. Try putting the book down once you have read past the first few pages - it is impossible!

Suggested Delivery: Independent Read

Since the book is a graphic novel, it is very easy for students to understand.  They will likely need little to no aid in understanding key concepts within the novel.  It's basically a steal for children who do not like reading!

Key Vocabulary:

• Baffling
• Bloodthirsty
• Cricket (the game)
• Convinced
• Newfound
• Satisfactory
• Stutter

Electronic Resources:

• Students can watch this video, to show how kids their age act towards same sex marriages as a model for acceptance:

• Here is a great article about acceptance! This is great for parents and teachers!

Increasing Comprehension Skills:

Before Independent Read: 

• Give students this list of key vocabulary words if they choose this book to read, and have them rate each word with their knowledge of the word by checking one box in an organizer like this:

• Have students who choose this book to write in their reading journals about the cover of the novel. Have them brainstorm a list of ideas about what the book is about and make inferences. There are many key images (like Lydia's suitcase with the flag from England painted on it, and an airplane in the distance). 

During Independent Read:

• Have students keep a vocabulary journal. I have said this again before also. Students should have a specific journal just for vocabulary. All the books being read at home and in school should be included in this journal, with important vocabulary words, definitions, and activities per novel. The journal should be checked weekly by the teacher to make sure students are using it effectively.

• Have students come up with a Text to Text connection, a Text to Self connection, and a Text to World connection while reading the book. They can write as many as they want, but they should have at least one of each type. They need to write these connections down in their reading journals, and write a brief summary about each connection. These connections will help students really relate to the characters in this great novel.

After Book is finished:

• Have students create a timeline of the events this graphic novel depicts. This will help students summarize, and will require students to go back and find key events in the novel. This skill is excellent for students who struggle comprehensively! 

• Have students come up with a creative journal entry - just like the novel itself - using some of these key vocabulary words. The student can draw pictures in the journal too, and it would be really cool if students drew pictures about some of the words!  

Writing Activity:

It would be so awesome if students were able to find a pen pal in a different country after reading this book! A student in your class could write about their classroom in the United States, and there could be another student in a different country writing about their educational experience. This could be done by a safe, secure, email system, or could also be by writing letters.  It might be best for this to be done in the classroom environment for safety reasons. If this activity is not possible, the student can write a "pretend" letter to someone in another country about their classroom. This relates to the book and I can guarantee most children would have a really fun time completing this activity!

Tiffany Tidbit -  This is quite possibly the most interesting graphic novel I have read.  I love, love, love, the diversity in it!  (If you could not tell already, I love diversity). I grew up in an incredibly diverse area, and loved being friends with people who came from completely different backgrounds. The idea of having two dads (portrayed with Julie's family) is great for students to read about. What if students had classmates with parents parents of the same sex? It is highly likely! It is so important for students to accept others - and this book is great for that purpose. It is so easy to give this great novel to a child as an independent read, especially for one that might be just at or even below grade level reading. Each child will love the book!