Perfect-Alex Weitzman

Weitzman, Alex

Per.4

11/13/08

PERFECT

By Natasha Friend

I chose this book because it has to do with a problem that a lot of 13 year olds go through. I think the book is really easy to connect to. I had a couple books I had to chose from one was Lush by Natasha Friend and Bounce by Natasha Friend. They all have to do with girls that are 13 and problems they could go through. I chose Perfect because I have a friend that was recently going through the same problem as the main character. I thought=2 0if I read this book I might have a better understanding of what she is going through and how I can help her overcome the problem. I also can connect a little to the main character which is another reason why I chose this book.

The main character Isabelle is 13 and she is bulimic. Her sister April caught Isabelle throwing up and told her mom. Her mom sent Isabelle to a group for eating disorders. At group she meets Ashley Barnum the popular girl at school. Trish the group leader has everyone write their feelings in a journal. Isabelle's dad died and her whole family is very depressed. Her mom cries every night in her room. Trish pairs up Ashley and Isabelle for a mirroring exercise. Ashley asks Isabelle to sleepover and of course Isabelle says yes. When they are at Isabelle's house they eat all of her food and then go to the bathroom and throw up together. Ashley invites Isabelle to sit in the center table at school with all her friends. The one day Ashley isn't there Isabelle isn't welcome at the table so she sits with her old friends Paula, Nola, and Georgia. At group Isabelle ask why Ashley wasn't at school and she said she had a big secret no one knows. After group Trish asks Isabelle to stay back because she needs to talk to her. Trish wanted to have appointments with just Isabelle so she could get to know her. After 3 m eetings Isabelle tells Trish everything. She told Trish she was done with being bulimic. How do we know she is telling the truth? You will have to find out for yourself.

April used to be my sister was a strong quote I thought because it has a lot meaning to the story. Natasha put this as the first line of the book because she was showing the emotion of Isabelle. This quote was important to the story because it is when you first find out that Isabelle is bulimic. It explains a lot because her sister told her mom about problem. That line was basically the whole story because if her sister never told her mom Isabelle wouldn't have to go through the obstacles of group. The story would go nowhere. I also chose this to be my quote because most teenagers say this about their siblings. When they have incredible anger against them.

I give Perfect five stars because I think Natasha did a great job of writing this in a 13 year olds perspective. It is hard to get into a teenagers head and it is even harder to write as if you are a teenager.

I recommend this book to kids from the age of 12 and up. You would want to read this book if you are interested reality based books. I also recommend this if you enjoy reading about kids your age and problems that they go through. Another why you should read this is if you enjoy the Clique series you would enjoy this book.

Warning: If you don't like reading about people throwing up I wouldn't chose this book. I would not have kids 10 or under read this. This book is very graphic.