The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang

Fresh off their epic summer road trip, Lydia and Julie are back and ready to take seventh grade by storm. Well, Lydia is: She wants to start a band, and she’s convinced Julie to join her. The Macrame Owls are joined by Roland (expert at the hardingfele) and Jane (expert at drama). None of them, unfortunately, are experts at rocking out. The band needs more practice, but instead Lydia and Julie find themselves riding an unexpected wave of popularity to their own belated birthday party. The girls may have accidentally stumbled upon the secret to popularity—if only the secret weren’t so completely humiliating. Hilarious, observant, and honest, this installment of the series has all of Amy Ignatow’s signature charm, while bringing our beloved heroines to a new turning point in their lives.

Amy Ignatow is a cartoonist and the author of the Popularity Papers series. She graduated from Moore College of Art and Design and was once a backup singer in a rock band called Todd Young and His Rock Band. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Mark, her daughter, Anya, and their cat, Mathilda, who is mellowing out despite herself. Kind of.