Stella on the Edge of Popularity by Lauren Lee

This book was really terrible. I wish I had picked something else to read and I would never, no matter how angry at my students I may get, assign this book to them to read. No teacher would be that cruel. Honestly, the writing in this book is embarrassing, obnoxious, and nauseating.

Written by Lauren Lee, the novel follows the main protagonist, Stella, as she navigates middle school. Bullied by the stereotypical "mean girl" Eileen, Stella endures racist comments and much taunting for her Korean heritage. The thing is, the book is so poorly written that I didn't even care that that was happening. The book is so cheesy and juvenile that it just doesn't seem to matter what happens to Stella or what she must tolerate. When the writing is poor, the content of the novel hardly even matters.

Predictable and trite, Stella on the Edge of Popularity is really just not worth anyone's time. It doesn't make me want to learn more about Korean customs, nor does it make me want to do anything other than find whoever gave this author the green light to publish her book and tell them they are terrible at their job.