Perfect

Perfect

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73  ·  rating details  ·  6,047 ratings  ·  776 reviews
Isabelle Lee has a problem, and it's not just Ape Face, her sister, or group therapy for an eating disorder, or even that her father died and her mother is depressed and in denial. It's that Ashley, the most popular girl in school, is inviting Isabelle to join her at lunch and at sleepovers at her house, and this is presenting Isabelle with a dilemma. Pretty Ashley has mov...more
Paperback, 172 pages
Published September 16th 2004 by Milkweed Editions
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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay AsherSpeak by Laurie Halse AndersonThe Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen ChboskyThe Fault in Our Stars by John GreenLooking for Alaska by John Green
Best Teen Books About Real Problems
56th out of 1,143 books — 5,753 voters
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YA Eating Disorder Fiction
2nd out of 106 books — 241 voters


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Merary
I had a hard time deciding on rating this book. I didn't know if I wanted to give it 3 stars or 4 stars. Then, i finally decided with 3.5 stars.

Normally when I expect to read pink, little book like this one, I don't expect the tone to be dark even if the back of the book already said that it was. Eating disorders and death. What a great theme for children who needs to have their eyes open for the real world.

Isabelle Lee(Cool name, by the way) is a thirteen-year-old bulimic. Ever since her dad di...more
Suki
Mar 25, 2008 Suki rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone!!!!
Perfect by Natasha Friend, Milkweed Editions,2004, 232pgs.,$6.95,ISBN 1-57131-651-5

Who doesn’t want to be perfect? I thought. Everyone desires a perfect body, glamorous and appealing. Following the death of her father, Isabelle, a thirteen-year-old,tries to reach her goal, almost leading to the condition of an eating disorder. This summer Isabelle attends the “Eating Disorder and Body Image Therapy Group” which is part of “the deal” with her mom. Isabelle is going to seek the truth in the worl...more
Toughlove
Oct 15, 2007 Toughlove rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: to any teenager who has an eating disorder
Perfect by Natasha Friend, is a book about a girl named Isabelle Lee, who has and eating disorder. She is thirteen years old, and the book tells about how her life is and all the problems that are going on, since her dad died. She has to start Group, after her little sister told on her, when she caught her throwing up. She is surprised when she sees Ashley Barnum, the most popular girl in the eighth grade, walk in. In Isabelle’s eyes, Ashley is perfect, and that is what she wants her life to be...more
Michelle
Jun 15, 2008 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teenage girls
This is a YA book that I would definitely recommend to teenage girls. Friend has a simple, pleasant writing style that makes the novel a quick read, yet she still hits home on the issues of bulemia, loss of a parent, and most importantly, appearance vs. reality in the world of teenage girls. The progression the main character makes throughout the novel is entirely believable, as is the fact that she doesn't have it all figured out by the end of the novel, but she realizes it will come in time. F...more
Taylor
Overall it was a pretty good book but i got totally discusted when she puked her guts out. Not to sound like a know it all or a critic but this book relly shows how teens deal with thier problems.
Bailey
I read Perfect for by Natasha Friend. I liked this book and thought it was a quick and easy to understand book. I would recommend this book more to girls than boys because it is told for the girl perspective. This would be a good book ages 12-15 to read over the summer. It was a fun book to read and has a nice ending,
` Perfect, was about a girl Isabelle you had an eating disorder, so every night so would go and throw up what she ate. Her younger sister April told her mom and no has to go to meet...more
Julia B.
Sep 16, 2009 Julia B. added it Recommends it for: all teens
Perfect By: Natasha Friend
Perfect by Natasha Friend was a very fascinating book about a character named Isabelle Lee who suffers from bulimia and the loss of her father. This book is upsetting and heartbreaking, but was an interesting read. It teaches you that when somebody has bulimia or another eating disorder, there are usually reasons behind the disease of why that person might have it. It also teaches you that being bulimic can be very dangerous. Even though it was not a happy book, it was...more
Andrea G
Title: Perfect
Author: Natasha Friend
Pages:265
Genre: Realistic Fiction

The main character of the book, Perfect, is Izabelle Lee. She struggles to deal with her emotions when her dad dies. Soon after, Izabelle becomes bulimic and is forced to go to an eating disorder class called Group. Izabelle has a younger sister named April. Izabelle calls her sister Ape Face! When she goes to Group she is surprised to see that Ashley, the most pretty and popular girl in school, has the same eating disorder as...more
Arabella
Picture yourself as a 13 year old girl who has anorexia. Yep, that’s her Isabelle Eliza Lee. The type of girl who has a dead father and an eating disorder. She has two friends who are soon to disperse from her life for a while. Her sister’s name is April. April once found her vomiting in the toilet, she ran to tell her mother. Isabelle’s mother thought over many times about what April told her until making her decision. She wanted Isabelle to go to Group Therapy every Wednesdays after school. I...more
Cheyenne Colby
Perfect by Natasha Friend was a really good book and it really kept my attention. I thought it was a well wrote book because not only do I think it spoke to me but I think it has and could speek to many women and young girls out there.
I dont really know how I could relate this to my life, since its about a bulemic teenage girl that finds a friend some what in the same senario as her, but find each other trying to fight against it, together. I do think it spoke to me though, and made me greatfu...more
Nancy Shannon
The book, "Perfect", by Natasha Friend, has taught me several life lessons on body image issues many teens encounter. It is the perfect book to connect with if you have ever been over taken by an eating disorder, such as bulimia, anorexia, obesity, etc. It can also educate you about these topics if you know someone struggling with one of these diseases and are unfamilliar with them.The book covers many fragile topics teenage girls struggle with during their adolesence and real stories on how to...more
Crystal

Perfect
By Natasha Friend

Don't give into peer pressure no matter how much you want to be like someone, or how much you miss someone
Thirteen year old Isabelle has a eating disorder, making herself throw up, she finds out that the most popular girl has the same disorder, they hang out more causing pressure on her own life.
Isabelle meets another girl named Ashley, aka the most popular girl in school, who has the same eating disorder. Ashley pressure Isabelle into throwing up more, so of course Isab...more
Anjali
This is the perfect novel if you want to read nother saga of teen depression and eating disorder and family grieving and family issues.
13-year-old Isabelle Lee, feels fat, ugly and misunderstood in her family. Almost two years ago her father died of Cancer and her mother cries herself to sleep now. No one can cope with the man they all loved gone.
When Isabelle is caught throwing up in the upstairs bathroom of theit house, she is sent to 'Group', otherwise known as therapy...and then in walks As...more
Cayla
Fresh out of eighth grade, I really wanted to read this book to see how “realistic” it was, considering it was based around two eighth graders.

Surprisingly, it was nearly exact in the way people are in middle school nowadays. The love notes from Brian may be a little farfetched (anyone who did that would be totally mortified), but hey, it just adds to the story.

Isabelle Lee was caught by her sister April throwing up in the bathroom. And, no, she didn’t have the flu. She was purging. So now, as p...more
Miranda
Perfect by Natasha Friend
Book Review by Miranda Brandly

Isabelle Lee is a thirteen year old girl struggling with the death of her father. Nothing has ever been the same without him. Every night her mother cries herself to sleep and Isabelle makes herself throw up. At first no one knew, until one night her sister April (aka Ape Face) catches her in the act. After multiple attempts of bribing Ape Face to stay quiet, Isabelle gives up and Ape Face tells their mother. As her punishment Isabelle must...more
Alissa
This is one novel, I think, that handles eating disorders really well – it neither glorifies nor pities them. Instead, it treats the disorders on a variety of levels, from families to friends to school to day-to-day emotions. It stresses that every case is different for every individual, but that there is still the opportunity for coming together. For me, this aspect kept the reading hopeful, despite being bitterly dark, at points.

Reading Perfect is like slogging through chewing the rind of a le...more
Ali Dana
Perfect is about a young girl that thinks she fat so, she does things to make herself skinny. She thinks Ashley Barnum is the most beautiful, skinniest person she has ever laid her eyes on. Ashley Barnum is a really popular girl in their grade, and Isabelle really wants to be her friend. When Isabelle finds out how Ashley is, she changes her mind about how she wants to be her best friend. Then Isabelle soon finds out that Ashley is just like her, which is weird because they are in a place that i...more
Clairemantle
I thought this was a nice short read. It fills a good week or so of reading time and it’s generally a good book for young teenage girls to read. It touches on an important subject of self-confidence, and also accurately portrays a big problem a lot of girls have. It is also genuinely emotional, and there aren’t a lot of books that I can really say are emotional even remotely.

The novel focuses on bulimia nervosa, a common problem among teens with self-confidence issues. The main protagonist, Isa...more
Delisha
The author of PERFECT is Natasha Friend. The genre of this book is realistic fiction.and the main character is Isabelle Lee
In this story a 13 year old girl, Isabelle Lee has gotten caught by her little sister throwing up.As much as she tries she couldn't stop her sister from telling their mom, this is were her little sister April gets the nickname "ape face". After everything her mom decides to send her to group therapy to help with her "disorder". One day in group Ashley Barnum walks into the...more
Hannah
Perfect by Natasha Friend is a touching novel that touches the topics of eating disorders, friendship and coming of age. Isabel Lee, a thirteen year old girl suffers from Bulimia and had hidden it from her fiends and family until one day her sister, "Ape Face", catches her in the act. Isabel is then forced to attend group meetings with others who suffer from eating disorders. To her surprise, she runs into the most popular girl in school; Ashley Barnum, someone who before the meetings, Isabel th...more
Bretana
I don’t have dad anymore, he died.”(Pg115)
And that’s why Isabelle’s life is all messed up.
Isabelle and Ashley are the main characters. Isabelle is 13 years old. She had a normal life like most girls with a dad and everything. Now she doesn’t have a dad and her life isn’t normal. Ashley has a perfect life. She’s tan all over, she has perfectly smooth legs. Ashley is also Isabelle Best friend.
Perfect does Natasha Friend write a novel. Perfect
Is the first novel Natasha has ever written.
One day A...more
Alex Davis
(For A Book Report)

Nobody is perfect. Neither is Isabelle Lee. She faces many difficulties about being judged. In the book Perfect, by Natasha Friend, Isabelle is a typical teen, facing every bit of drama. The author uses dialogue and description to a great effect in the story of a girl who chooses a dangerous way to deal with the the pressure between appearances and reality.
This book is a great story for teenagers. Its about your average thirteen-year-old girl. Isabelle is trying to be like t...more
Karina Perales
The cover and the title of the book really caught my attention and make me want to read it.

In this book it tells the story of Isabelle Lee who is basically your normal teenage girl. Just like every girl she has some issues with her body and just problems with her family. Except Isabelle's problems with her body lead her to making herself throw up and just do bad things to her body. And then there's the fact that her Father died and her Mother isn't really a mother to her anymore. Her mother jus...more
713 Alviea
In the beginning of this book I felt weird. I didn't really understand what was happening to her. I didn't even know there is a disease called bulimia. The events in her life had really changed her. When i first read she stuffed herself and made herself throw up I got interested. I wanted to know what she was doing. What it was called. Through the first few chapters I realized this happens in real life. People do many things when there sad. I felt kind of shocked when the most popular girl in he...more
Courtney Kitt
Thirteen year old Isabelle is quietly going through a hard time due to the recent death of her father. Isabelle, her mother, and her younger sister all miss him a lot, but they don't talk about him or even acknowledge the pain they all feel after his death, vecause they dont have that kind of relationship with eachother.


the bottled up sadness about isablles dad's death manifests itself and she becomes bulimic to feel better. When her younger sister discovers Isabelle's bulimia, she tells their m...more
Lmorales-fernandez
The novel is not only about a teenager that comes across many obstacles, it is a message. Perfect written by Natasha Friend, not only conveys the message of what teens go through in their school days. She demonstrates what a relationship between a mother and a daughter is like if they do not open enough about their feelings.

This fictional story gives a very strong message about having feelings inside and what could happen if they are not expressed well enough.

For Isabelle, the main character,...more
Patricia
This book is basically about a girl named Isabelle. She has a health problem. She throws up after she eats. When her mom finds out, she sends her to Group. But in Group she out Ashley, the most popular girl in school is also there. The main characters are Isabelle and Ashley. An internal conflict occured when Isabelle wasn't sure if she wanted to continue to throw up.
In this book, I could make a text to text connection. This book can also connect to "It's Not the End of the World" by Judy Blu...more
Jenny
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? How do you feel? If you were Isabelle Lee, you would think of yourself as a disgusting looking person, who could cut down more fat. Almost every teenage girl out there feels the same way about their appearance. People all over the world are so paranoid about their appearance that they would do anything to look “pretty” and “fit”. They would starve themselves to death or spend a large amount of money on diet products. However, for Isabelle, it was alr...more
Anniesa
Perfect is a book of deep understanding and therapeutic remedies for anyone that suffers from eating disorders. This book shows how the loss of someone, the divorce of someone's parents, or any unwanted experience can lead to any effect. This book is about Isabelle who lost her father and how she deals with it by following the eating disoder of bulimia. All of her family can't get over the lost. Her mother is always crying and never wants to do anything or talk about anything, she just pretends...more
Grace B.
Perfect was a great book because it showed how it isn’t easy to get over the loss of a loved one and that no one is perfect. The author connected with people who suffer from anorexia or bulimia or even both. In Isabelle’s family, they have just experienced the death of their father and everyone in the family had a way of dealing with it. Her mother’s was rolling out of bed and doing nothing with herself, Her sister April’s way was continuing with her life and making her parents more proud than e...more
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A writer and full time mom, Natasha (Tasha, Tash) Friend has taught at the Brearley School in New York City and Ecole Bilingue in Cambridge. She also served as Director of the Brimmer and May Summer Camp in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Her writing has appeared in "Family Fun" magazine and "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul." Tash lives in Connecticut with her husband and two little boys.

Her...more
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