Perfect by Ellen Hopkins
Author Biography:
Ellen Hopkins is the New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, Identical,Tricks, Fallout, Perfect, Triangles, Tilt, and Collateral. She lives in Carson City, Nevada, with her husband and son. Hopkin's Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest pages get thousands of hits from teens who claim Hopkins is the "only one who understands me", and she can be visited at ellenhopkins.com. Information retrieved from Goodreads.com.
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN: 1416983244
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: Ages 14 and Up
Reader’s Annotation:
Everybody has their own idea of what it means to be perfect, so is it even worth striving for? Even if you’re as thin as could possibly be, would EVERYONE think that you’re perfectly beautiful? What about your hair? Your ethnicity? Your gender? Your sexuality? Perfect follows the struggles of four teens as they struggle to be perfect not only in the minds of everyone in the world, but in their own minds as well.
Plot Summary:
Perfect follows the lives of four protagonists, Cara, Kendra, Sean, and Andre. Cara has been brought up in a well-to-do household and is in need of nothing – short of absolute perfect. To make her parents at least slightly interested in her, she must have perfect grades, must be absolutely beautiful, and excellent at sports. The strain of these expectations, however, has driven her brother into a corner and he tries to kill himself, only to fail and be locked up in a hospital. Very little is said about the incident, likely because her parents don’t want their “perfect” family to be shamed. Cara tries to ignore the neglect from her family and continues working toward her perfect life, but meets a woman that will show her she may not be the person she thought she was – or her family ever wanted her to be.
Kendra is actively seeking what it means to be the perfect beauty, and is devastating her body in the process. She counts every single calorie, avoids fatty foods like the plague, and starves herself daily. This isn’t helped by the fact that her mother does nothing to stop her, and even supports her efforts when a modeling scout notices her and offers her a chance to be famous. Yet if she wants to make it in the modeling world she needs to be skinnier, he cautions. He hands her pills that are supposed to help her thin down, and shows her other methods to shed what little weight she has remaining. But her dues aren’t completely paid when she does reach the proper weight. When she’s finally brought before a modeling agent for a final review, Kendra will have to do everything she can to make him happy.
Meanwhile, Sean is doing everything he can to be the perfect baseball player. He weight trains every day, goes to practice when he is supposed to, and even takes those strange supplements that are advertised to increase his strength. When that isn’t enough, he falls back on steroids – which are used to great effect. Before long, however, the drugs begin to affect his mood and drive him to commit several crimes he cannot be forgiven for.
Andre lives a fairly comfortable life with his affluent family. With his good grades and strong financial backing, he’s expected to follow the family business and continue making great amounts of money. Yet this isn’t what Andre wants for himself – he’d rather follow his passion and become a dancer. Though he’s frequently praised by his dance instructor – whom he meets in secret – Andre isn’t likely to receive the support he needs from his family to become as great as he could be.
Critical Evaluation:
Perfect is notable for tackling many issues teens face such as body issue and sexuality with a candor that doesn’t sugar coat the issues. The characters are deep, and each chapter gets inside their heads and details their internal struggles with how they think they are supposed to be perfect. Their struggles are believable, and they don’t always make the right choices – which can lead to devastating results. Teens seeking honest insight to the issues covered in Perfect may enjoy reading yet another entry into her young adult series. It should be noted, however, that like Hopkins’s other works Perfect is written entirely in verse. This format will either entice or drive people away, depending on the reader.
Curriculum Ties:
Challenge Issues:
Defensive Maneuvers:
Book Talk Ideas:
What would make a person perfect? What do you think? Or you? So if we have so many ideas of what perfect is, then how could anybody expect to be so? That's what many of the teens in this book struggle through.
Why This Book?
Perfect explores many important issues teens are likely to face or want to know more about. While they can naturally learn more about those subjects by running a simple Google search, Perfect does so in a way that the matters are easily understood and the effects and struggles are demonstrated. Furthermore, by becoming acquainted with each character, teens are more likely to be personally affected by their struggles and learn more about them.
Ellen Hopkins is the New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, Identical,Tricks, Fallout, Perfect, Triangles, Tilt, and Collateral. She lives in Carson City, Nevada, with her husband and son. Hopkin's Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest pages get thousands of hits from teens who claim Hopkins is the "only one who understands me", and she can be visited at ellenhopkins.com. Information retrieved from Goodreads.com.
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN: 1416983244
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: Ages 14 and Up
Reader’s Annotation:
Everybody has their own idea of what it means to be perfect, so is it even worth striving for? Even if you’re as thin as could possibly be, would EVERYONE think that you’re perfectly beautiful? What about your hair? Your ethnicity? Your gender? Your sexuality? Perfect follows the struggles of four teens as they struggle to be perfect not only in the minds of everyone in the world, but in their own minds as well.
Plot Summary:
Perfect follows the lives of four protagonists, Cara, Kendra, Sean, and Andre. Cara has been brought up in a well-to-do household and is in need of nothing – short of absolute perfect. To make her parents at least slightly interested in her, she must have perfect grades, must be absolutely beautiful, and excellent at sports. The strain of these expectations, however, has driven her brother into a corner and he tries to kill himself, only to fail and be locked up in a hospital. Very little is said about the incident, likely because her parents don’t want their “perfect” family to be shamed. Cara tries to ignore the neglect from her family and continues working toward her perfect life, but meets a woman that will show her she may not be the person she thought she was – or her family ever wanted her to be.
Kendra is actively seeking what it means to be the perfect beauty, and is devastating her body in the process. She counts every single calorie, avoids fatty foods like the plague, and starves herself daily. This isn’t helped by the fact that her mother does nothing to stop her, and even supports her efforts when a modeling scout notices her and offers her a chance to be famous. Yet if she wants to make it in the modeling world she needs to be skinnier, he cautions. He hands her pills that are supposed to help her thin down, and shows her other methods to shed what little weight she has remaining. But her dues aren’t completely paid when she does reach the proper weight. When she’s finally brought before a modeling agent for a final review, Kendra will have to do everything she can to make him happy.
Meanwhile, Sean is doing everything he can to be the perfect baseball player. He weight trains every day, goes to practice when he is supposed to, and even takes those strange supplements that are advertised to increase his strength. When that isn’t enough, he falls back on steroids – which are used to great effect. Before long, however, the drugs begin to affect his mood and drive him to commit several crimes he cannot be forgiven for.
Andre lives a fairly comfortable life with his affluent family. With his good grades and strong financial backing, he’s expected to follow the family business and continue making great amounts of money. Yet this isn’t what Andre wants for himself – he’d rather follow his passion and become a dancer. Though he’s frequently praised by his dance instructor – whom he meets in secret – Andre isn’t likely to receive the support he needs from his family to become as great as he could be.
Critical Evaluation:
Perfect is notable for tackling many issues teens face such as body issue and sexuality with a candor that doesn’t sugar coat the issues. The characters are deep, and each chapter gets inside their heads and details their internal struggles with how they think they are supposed to be perfect. Their struggles are believable, and they don’t always make the right choices – which can lead to devastating results. Teens seeking honest insight to the issues covered in Perfect may enjoy reading yet another entry into her young adult series. It should be noted, however, that like Hopkins’s other works Perfect is written entirely in verse. This format will either entice or drive people away, depending on the reader.
Curriculum Ties:
- Body issues
- Perfection in the media
- Sexuality
Challenge Issues:
- Sexual content, violence
Defensive Maneuvers:
- Have the library's collection policy on hand and memorized. Even though you may have it committed to memory, being able to show specific provisions as proof with strengthen your position.
- Be familiar with the book. Having great knowledge of it will prove you understand the content and the way the challenged matters interact with each other. The sex and violence isn't done for shock value, but is central to the story as the teens struggle with steroid abuse and their own sexuality. The sexual content isn't very descriptive, either.
- Cite any awards the book may have. Though the patron may disagree with the book, showing that it is well known and seen as having great literary merit will strengthen your defense.
- Have a few reviews ready from respected sources such as Amazon or VOYA. At the very least, you can prove you understand the material and reviews will corroborate that.
- Have a strong idea WHY that item is in the library. Explain its merits, who the intended audience is, and so on.
- State your library's commitment to providing intellectual freedom as written in the Library Bill of Rights.
- Stay calm. Getting defensive or hot under the collar will only weaken your position.
- And finally, be open to discussion and LISTEN. Even if you do not agree with the patron, their concerns are still legitimate and you should show that you are engaged with them. Listening to their concerns may be enough to take the edge off.
Book Talk Ideas:
What would make a person perfect? What do you think? Or you? So if we have so many ideas of what perfect is, then how could anybody expect to be so? That's what many of the teens in this book struggle through.
Why This Book?
Perfect explores many important issues teens are likely to face or want to know more about. While they can naturally learn more about those subjects by running a simple Google search, Perfect does so in a way that the matters are easily understood and the effects and struggles are demonstrated. Furthermore, by becoming acquainted with each character, teens are more likely to be personally affected by their struggles and learn more about them.