Perfect

Perfect

YA fiction
Isabelle, 13-year-old protagonist of Natasha Friend's Perfect,
lost her beloved father a couple of years ago. Their family maintains
a facade of normalcy--a very fragile veneer. Her mom tells everyone
who asks that they are fine but cries a lot, has hidden her husband's
pictures, and won't let her daughters mention his name. Little
sister, April, is frightened and confused.
Isabelle has her own way of coping. She considers herself
grossly fat. She binge eats and makes herself vomit.
One day April catches her in the act. Her mother makes her
start attending a group for young people with eating disorders. Much
to her surprise, the most popular and perfect seeming girl in her
class is there. How could she need help?
Perfect is ten years old so if your library doesn't have it,
you'll probably have to acquire it through inter library loan. It's
well worth reading.
On a personal note, Perfect was published by Milkweed Editions, a non
profit publisher. I was unable to read their current catelog on my
iPod touch. I plan to try one of the library lap tops. They also
publish poetry. Maybe they might find my work transformative enough.
It's worth a try.
A great big shout out goes out to people struggling with eating
disorders and the families and friends who love them.
Julia Emily Hathaway



Sent from my iPod