When Maya Van Wagenen started her new classes in Brownsville, Texas she was determined to fit in so she did what every teenage girl would do (if those teenage girls were growing up in the 1950’s) – she turned to Betty Cornell’s Teen-age Popularity Guide.
This may seem like a complete non-story: 15 year old girl reads 65 year old book, learns to be classy, etc. But the thing is, it is a story. Maya – who should probably take on economics or entrepreneurship next – turned her little social experiment in class into a $300,000.00, two book deal. Oh, and Dreamworks has optioned the book to retell Maya’s tale via the big screen.
So not only does she have a bright future ahead of her, but she can probably throw a kick-ass dinner party to boot!