Perfect by Natasha Friend

Perfect by Natasha Friend

In the world of thirteen-year-old girls, everything’s fine—at least on the surface. Isabelle Lee is a typical, wisecracking, middle-of-the-pack girl who just happens to be dealing with some big issues. Her father has died and no one—especially her mother—wants to talk about it. Meanwhile, Isabelle’s sister, who “used to be nine and charming,” has messed everything up by ratting Isabelle out to their mom about her eating disorder. At school, there’s Mr. Minx, the self-important (but really not bad) English teacher; Ashley Barnum, the prettiest girl around; and the lunchroom, where tables are turf in an all-eyes-open battle for social status. Isabelle has measured the distance to being cool and she thinks it’s long shiny hair, a toothpaste smile, and perfectly broken-in size-zero jeans. Perfect is the story of one girl’s attempt to cope with loss, define true friendship, and figure out the difference between appearances and reality.

Natasha Friend, the award-winning author of Perfect, was born in Norwich, New York. After she received her B.A., she was ecstatic. Natasha received her B.A. in Psychology from Bates College in 1994 and went on to Clemson University for her M.A. In 1997, it was published in English. Natasha enjoys singing and song-lyric writing as a former camp director and English teacher, and she hopes to create more novels in the future.

Perfect, her debut novel, delves into the private difficulties of body image, eating disorders, and sorrow. Perfect was named a Book Sense Choice and received the Milkweed Award for Children's Literature. Friend raises what could have been just another problem novel to a very fascinating read of considerable interest to many girls, according to Booklist. Lush, Natasha's newest novel, goes headfirst into the turbulent lives and mind of a thirteen-year-old girl whose father is an alcoholic.

Samantha had to deal with loss, secrecy, and guilt on top of her own adolescent struggles. It grows worse for Samantha just as her skin toughens and her emotions dull. Natasha wrote this book in order to bring attention to the proverbial elephant in the room, so that it might be recognized and removed. Natasha lives in Connecticut with her husband, Erik, and their two sons, Jack and Ben.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781571316516
ISBN 10	1571316515
Title	Perfect
Author	Natasha Friend
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Milkweed Editions
Year published	2004-10-28
Number of pages	232
Prizes	Short-listed for Black-Eyed Susan Award (Grades 6-9) 2007
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.