 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Perfect
- By Ellen Hopkins
- Genre: Poetry
Common Sense Media says
Teens learn to live for themselves in intense, mature book.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this a mature book that deals bluntly with a lot of intense material: rape, eating disorders, teen plastic surgery, cyberbullying, same-sex dating, steroids, suicide, and more. As in all of Hopkins' books, this installment is told through verse poetry and features lots of graphic language and sexual situations. The characters in this book struggle -- and do terrible things to themselves and others -- but at the end they are learning to stop trying to meeting some unattainable standard of perfection. Instead, they realize, "Living means taking chances. Risks. Playing safe all the time is being dead."
What's the story?
Conner strives to be the perfect athlete, Kendra to the perfect size -- meanwhile Cara tries to live up to her mother's impossible expectations, and Andre tires to hide his passion for dancing. Meanwhile, they are all hiding secrets: Conner is addicted to steroids, for example, and Kendra is starving herself to death. Through verse poetry, each character narrates his or her struggle -- and comes to the slow realization that he or she must escape an external definition of perfect.
Is it any good?
PERFECT fits the classic Hopkin's formula: Thick book, verse poetry, hot-button issues, and mature language. Fans will likely race through the 600-plus pages. Perhaps the author tries a bit too hard to drive her point home here -- don't try to be perfect, be yourself -- and she makes her characters suffer an awful lot along the way. Even so, the book will certainly give your teens plenty to ponder. A plot line about cyberbullying could especially lead to some important conversation among family members.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about YA books. There has been a lot of discussion in the media about the mature material in these books -- which some feel have gotten too dark. In response, the author argues on her blog that when teens "become a character in a book, use and lose control, right along with that character, they understand better what’s at stake." Which side are you on?
This book features a cybercrime: A boy uses his phone to take a picture of his ex-girlfriend having sex with another girl and then emails it around. Does this sound like something that might actually happen? Families may want to take the time to review Common Sense Media's tips for preventing cyberbullying.
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AGE
i love her books
this book is ever good just like all of her book and teens and up should read it cuz it tells what happends when u do drug and have sex and get preganent
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| Author: | Ellen Hopkins |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Poetry |
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | September 13, 2011 |
| Number of pages: | 640 |
| Hardcover price: | $18.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 14 - 14 |
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