How far would you go when "Perfection" losses it's meaning?
In Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, four seniors in High School face many difficulties on their road to being what the call, "Perfect."
This book tells of the struggles these four teens have, when they're wanting to be, "Perfect." Cara twin sister of Conner (from Impulse by: Ellen Hopkins) is facing the struggles of wanting to please her parents because they demand she excel in everything including sports. They hardly ever pay attention to anything she does. She comes to conclusions that she no longer loves her boyfriend Sean, but she loves a girl named Dani. Overcoming the fear of being labeled, "lesbian" she doesn't care what anybody thinks of her.
Kendra wanting to be nothing but "Perfect" so she can be a model, starts limiting how much she eats and is scared to look at herself in the mirror. She basically doesn't eat anything and finally reaches her goal of being in a size 2. When she goes to have her rhinoplasty, the doctor won't work on her nose because she looks horrible from lack of food. She gets declared anorexic and her rhinoplasty is postponed.
Sean spends hours of weight training and takes too many steroids, so he can be what he calls "Perfect." When Cara brakes up with him, he goes on a mad mood drive and almost loses his baseball career. Andre wants nothing more than to be a dancer. He goes behind his parents backs to have dance lessons, because they want him to have a real career that will give him money in the bank.
I recommend that young adults read this book not for their own interest, but because they will see that no matter what they do, they will not be fully "Perfect." I also recommend that they read this book because they will se that life can get better, no matter how rough their life is. The last reason I recommend reading this book is because they will understand that they don't need to please others, the only people they need to be pleasing are themselves.
