Perfect: A Novel
by Natasha Friend
List Price:
Our Price: $1.79
You Save: $6.16 (77%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Natasha FriendEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-16
ISBN: 1571316515
Number of pages: 232
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Book Reviews of Perfect: A Novel
Book Review: "Perfect" really is Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
Book Review- Perfect is really perfect
By Stephanie Guiracocha, age 13, White Plains, New York
ISBN# 1571316515
Perfect by Natasha Friend; Milkweed Editions; Minneapolis, 2004; $6.95
Are you too obsessed with your weight and think you are so far from Perfect? Do you wish you were that popular girl in school who has it all: looks, brains, cool friends, all the attention, and a "mansion" for a house? You could be someone like Isabella Lee. Natasha Friend did a great job describing the life of a girl obsessed with her weight in the realistic fiction book Perfect.
Isabella Lee is a 13 year old girl who thinks she is too over weight. Ever since her dad died her life has been everything but perfect. Her obsession with her weight led her to take a drastic measure by becoming Bulimic. I think that is wrong that an obsession of weight would lead you to having an eating disorder. Isabella Lee was caught by her younger sister April making herself puck and Ape Face told their mother. Now Isabella Lee is forced to go to Group as part of "the deal" she made with her mother. I think if I had a younger sister and she was a tattle teller I would be very mad at her especially if it was something as big as the issue Isabella had.
In Group Isabella finds out that even the most popular girl in school might have an eating disorder just like the normal people in school. While in Group Isabella finds that Ashley Barnum (the most popular girl in school who to Isabella is PERFECT) is like her bulimic. Isabella and Ashley (who never spoke before not even in their ELA class (which they had together) become very great friends who grow to trust each other very well. Since Isabella started Group she begun hanging out with Ashley a lot and eventually dropped her old best friends. I know how it feels to be dropped by your best friend because it has happened to me before and it hurts and I'm pretty sure that's how Isabella's friends felt. A major theme that occurs through the story is that of being so concerned about your weight that it leads to dangerous actions. Isabella was always saying she was to fat which lead her to being bulimic. Another theme in the story is relations between families. Isabella doesn't really get along with her sister or her mother. Also everybody in the family thinks they are the only one who are dwelling on the loss of a family member and the only ones who really miss him.
This book is more for middle school kids think. It's about a 13 yr old so middle school kids even high school kids might be able to understand the concept more and connect more than an 8 yr old would. I think younger kids aren't as concerned about their weight as a middle school kid or high school kid. This book won the Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature and it also won The Children's Book Sense Picks. The target audience of this book would be kids of the ages 12 and up.
Perfect was the first novel that Natasha Friend wrote and also wrote another great novel for teens Lush which also deals with teen issues like in Perfect. Natasha Friend once taught at the Brearley School in New York City and Ecole Bilingue in Cambridge. Natasha's writing has been featured in "Family Fun" magazine and "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul."
Issues Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Issues Books
Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst (Lions)by Lois Lowry
Collins; Published: 1998; Paperback; Book
Anastasia At Your Serviceby Lois Lowry
Collins; Published: 1998; Paperback; Book
Twenty-four Hoursby Margaret Mahy
Collins; Published: 2000; Hardcover; Book
Roller Coasterby Marla Frazee
Sandpiper; Published: 2006-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops:
Al Capone Does My Shirtsby Gennifer Choldenko
Puffin Books; Puffin; Published: 2006-04-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.56
Price in other shops:
Seymour Simon's Book of Trainsby Seymour Simon
HarperCollins; Published: 2004-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.69
Price in other shops:
Stevieby John Steptoe
HarperCollins; Published: 1986-11-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.47
Price in other shops:
Mathilda and the Orange Balloonby Randall de Seve
Balzer + Bray; Published: 2010-02-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Bridal Dreams (Thoroughbred Series #65)by Joanna Campbell
HarperCollins; Published: 2004-05-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.19
Price in other shops:
Heartbeat (rpkg)by Sharon Creech
Harper Collins Publishers; HarperCollins; Published: 2005-09-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.35
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Riverside Anthology of Children's Literatureby Judith Saltman
Houghton Mifflin Company; Published: 1985-12-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $94.00
Price in other shops:
Fever 1793by Laurie Halse Anderson
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Published: 2002-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops:
All the Way Homeby Patricia Reilly Giff
Yearling; Published: 2003-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.20
Price in other shops:
A Chair for My Mother 25th Anniversary Edition (Reading Rainbow Books)by Vera B. Williams
Greenwillow Books; Greenwillow Books; Published: 1984-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.46
Price in other shops:
Alabama Moonby Watt Key
Square Fish; Published: 2010-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
Bounceby Natasha Friend
Scholastic Press; Published: 2007-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.49
Price in other shops:
Lushby Natasha Friend
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 2007-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Price in other shops:
For Keepsby Natasha Friend
Speak; Published: 2011-04-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.26
Price in other shops:
Bounceby Natasha Friend
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 2009-04-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Lushby Natasha Friend
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 2006-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.54
Price in other shops: