Konnichiwa Hivers, it's me, your ridgette! It's been awhile since I last wrote a book review, and honestly, I really missed it. The midterm exams really tire my brain cells out, but now that they are somehow finally over, I get to go back to my usual book reviews. Enough with this chatter; let's get down to the book review I'm going to share with you. So for today, it will all be about a sixth-grade girl who's experiencing her first love for the most popular boy in their small town.
I've read a lot of romance books, but up until now, I'm still not certain what exactly the definition of love is. While reading it, I'm not sure if what she's feeling is really love or just admiration. Or was it just infatuation? Anyway, let's not dwell on that one yet. Join me first as I share with you the story of how a once hopelessly in love girl was able to slowly unravel herself while befriending the boy that she's been in love with for like, almost forever.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
About the Book
I just can't stand the thought of having to say anything to Conrad. I don't know anyone is expected to talk to somebody they've been in love forever and a day. Especially me, the most unpopular girl in Cabanash County. I wish I could stay here and lie against this old brown couch forever and ever and ever.
Deep Down Popular is a novel written by Phoebe Stone, and it was originally published by Scholastic Inc. in 2008. The novel is about Jessie Lou Ferguson, a lonely sixth-grade girl. She is what you call an outdoors girl because most of the time she likes going outside, running in a field, or walking along a creek. Her mother even called her a tomboy because of her behavior and her utter dislike for party shoes and dresses. To top it all, she even murdered her hair with those nice old pair of scissors, which she used to cut her hair practically down to the bone right before the time they were about to have a family photograph taken.
Despite her boyish behavior, Jessie Lou is really in love with a boy named Conrad Parker Smith, who is really opposite to her. Unlike her, who's a loner, Conrad has friends. All the girls in their school loved him, and all the boys liked him. He's seriously popular, and he seemed to have an unspoken reign over everybody in their school. That's something Jessie Lou was really insecure about because the boy she's in love with is so unreachable—too opposite to a girl whose hair is so short that you couldn't spit on it, and that's definitely her.
Conrad's popularity is growing day by day, but suddenly, somewhere at the beginning of their sixth grade, something happened. His' leg wasn't working right, and of 'course that affected his popularity. It started to dwindle, and then one day, he showed up at school wearing a big, shiny metal brace on his leg. That leg brace eventually dealt the final blow to Conrad's plunging popularity. With Conrad being unpopular, Jessie Lou finds herself finally getting close to him, but things didn't work out immediately. Will Conrad let Jessie Lou into his life, or will they stay strangers to each other until he regains his once-lost popularity?
How It Started
It all started when Jessie Lou was asked by her teacher to help Conrad get his bicycle home. They didn't hit off immediately, like in a typical romance novel plot. Jessie Lou somehow got the silent treatment from him for like a few more interactions, but everything somehow improved when Quentin Duster came. By the way, as Jessie Lou described him, Quentin is a pip-squeaky, bossy, too big for his britches boy, and she really finds him quite annoying. Despite finding him annoying, Jessie Lou later became accustomed to Quentin's pip-squeaky nature when he persistently joined them wherever they went.
His talkative and energetic nature somehow dispelled the awkwardness that Jessie Lou felt whenever she's with Conrad, and thanks to Quentin, she's able to gradually open up and express her feelings and opinions to other people. With her new-found friendship, Jessie Lou gradually discovers what she really likes. Being with them made her experience what it is to have real fun with real friends. Unlike her previous friends, who made her feel worthy only when they had something to ask from her, what she felt with her new friendship was entirely different. With them, Jessie Lou was able to express herself more. Also, being with Conrad made her realize the insecurities she's been eluding for years.
As the story progressed, Jessie Lou realized the reasons why she felt in love with Conrad. She also realized that, as much as she wants Conrad to get better, she also doesn't want him to go back to what he used to be. As selfish as she could be, she didn't want him to be free from his leg brace. Conrad being free with it means him being back to his popular status and her being back to her lonely phase. She can't bring herself to go back to what she used to be, now that she finds herself attached to the love and friendship she's experiencing. Can their friendship prevail, or can popularity really lead her to serious heartbreak?
How It Ended
After her sister's rather unfortunate beauty contest experience, Jessie Lou received much more unfortunate news. She discovered that Conrad was going to undergo an operation. That worried her a lot because she was not sure if the operation would succeed. She's really worried that it will fail, and she'll end up not saying good-bye to him. She realized she'd die if he'd die, but if the operation succeeds, Conrad will be popular again, and she'll be left alone. His popularity will prevent her from getting near him. Either way, she'll die.
Jessie Lou was able to visit him for the last time before his operation, and a sudden realization hit her. He's better off without her than dead with her. Fortunately, the operation went well, and Conrad is back to his old popular self again. That really broke her because she knew she already knew that she had lost him the moment he came back. Her sister witnessed how she broke down, and that experience somehow led her to mend her not-so-good relationship with her sister.
Just as she was melancholily pondering how she'd live her life without Conrad, her mother called her. There's a boy on the porch looking for her. She peeked, and she was surprised because it's Conrad! And he's inviting her to their sixth-grade dance! She was really happy the entire evening with Conrad. She felt that Conrad's popularity was rubbing off on her because everybody was nice to her. She now didn't care what she'd probably look at outside because what she felt inside was something that solely mattered to her.
Of 'course, after that night, everything did not magically change because she's still the old Jessie Lou, but something did improve. She gradually discovered what she's capable of and discerned what she wanted to be with when she grew up. She realized that she shouldn't let her insecurities limit her. Also, just before the novel ended, Quentin confessed something. He confessed that he really liked her for quite a while, and that somehow surprised her. With that, she's able to realize that there are people who really appreciate her despite her flaws, and certainly she now understands that, deep down, we all can be popular.
This story really brings back nostalgia in me because I've read it way back in my high school years. Those years are really the most memorable years of my life. The simple moments that I usually spend in libraries reading are something I want to experience again. In that time, I was able to read this book, and I'm really glad I did! This book made me feel what it is like to be young and in love with a boy.
The collywobble that I felt while reading this story is something that my young heart understood. It resonated well with me because, like Jessie Lou, I was once hopelessly not in love tho, just infatuated (a little more than much) with a popular boy. He's really like Conrad, kind, popular, and also untouchable, but unlike Jessie Lou, I wasn't given a chance to further know him. Well, that's how life really works, but now, like Jessie Lou, I continue to bounce back from the difficulties that life has been giving me. Overall, the novel was really enjoyable and uplifting to read. So if you want to reminisce about how it is to be young and in love again, Deep Down Popular is definitely the novel that you must try, and I rate it 4.7/5.
That's all for now, bookworms. See you again next time for my next book review—and take note, it's not spoiler-free!
