Book #31: A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity

Title: A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity


Author: Kathleen Gilles Seidel


Erin Meadows is a sixth-grader at Alden School in Washington, DC when she suddenly finds herself one of the popular girls. Just as suddenly, she's jetted from the "in crowd" when a conniving queen bee weasels her way in. For most preteens, this dilemma would be enough of a crisis, but Erin has another problem: her mother, Lydia, seems to have absolutely no life at all outside of Alden and the social networks of the school.


At first, I thought I'd like this book. It was compared to Jane Austen, called a modern "comedy of manners" and had glowing reviews on the back. But it was lame. If I were Lydia Meadows, I'd be so embarrased that I had traded my day job as a lawyer in order to orchestrate class teas and coordinate carpools. I mean, I'm involved in my kids lives; I drive carpools, try to get them in the schools that would be right for them and obsess (on a minor level) over their extracurricular activities. But Lydia seemed to have no life outside of being a soccer mom or fretting over getting the kids into Sidwell Friends or worrying over whether or not her daughter will win back her friends. She actually says at one point in the novel that she loves soccer games because she loves the time she spends getting everything packed (liked the orange slices) and neatly arranged in the trunk of her station wagon. I, for one, hate soccer games. I hate feeling torn between watching the kid who is playing and keeping the other kids entertained, hate lugging the camp chairs to the side of the field, hate worrying if my kid is going to decide to pick flowers during an important play. And orange slices? Forget about it. My kid is lucky to have a juice box and a baggie of goldfish waiting for him on the sidelines.


Anyway, I had a hard time relating. I also though that reading the book might help me understand my godmother better. She has one daughter (now in college) who attended a private school that sounds pretty similar to Alden. And like Lydia, Annie threw herself into that school, organizing teas, running the concession stand at ball games, hosting pre-prom dinners at her house, etc... And when Beth went to college two years ago, I think it was really hard for Annie not to have the ties to Beth's school anymore. But reading this book didn't help me understand Annie, at least not in any way that makes me more sympathetic.


So if you see A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity on the clearance table at Barnes and Noble, feel free to pass it by.


-originally published 5/19/06