Hopkins sticks to the signature style that has made her books bestsellers, blending verse poetry with controversial topics. In her eighth novel, four teenage protagonists alternately narrate their struggles with perfection. Sean and Kendra's struggles are physical—he's a baseball player who turns to steroids, and she's an aspiring model who develops a severe eating disorder ("Real control is/ not putting in more than you can work off.... Shaving off every caloric unit you can/ without passing out"). Cara and Andre's issues are more about identity (Cara is an all-American girl realizing she is a lesbian, while Andre is under parental pressure to pursue a lucrative, ambitious career path and is afraid to admit his passion for dance). This is a sequel, of sorts, as Cara's twin, Conner, a protagonist in Hopkins's suicide-themed book, Impulse, makes an appearance. There is an overabundance of plot points, as readers learn about Sean's dead parents, Kendra's racist father, a vicious attack on Kendra's sister, and more. But Hopkins explores enough hot-button issues (rape, teen plastic surgery, cyberharassment, etc.) to intrigue her fans and recruit new ones. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)
Perfect
Narrated by Aya Cash, Heather Lind, Aaron Tveit, Tristan Wilds
Ellen HopkinsUnabridged — 8 hours, 10 minutes
Perfect
Narrated by Aya Cash, Heather Lind, Aaron Tveit, Tristan Wilds
Ellen HopkinsUnabridged — 8 hours, 10 minutes
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Overview
Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they'd rather be. For four high school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.
Cara's parents' unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body-no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run-on the field and off-Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he'll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.
A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.
Editorial Reviews
"This page-turner pulls no emotional punches."
—Kirkus Reviews, April 2011
"Hopkins sticks to the signature style that has made her books bestsellers, blending verse poetry with controversial topics . . . to intrigue her fans and recruit new ones."
—Publishers Weekly, July 2011
"This companion to Impulse can stand alone, but packs considerably more punch when read contiguously as intended. . . . Hopkins’s legions of fans will no doubt devour Perfect and welcome the return of the characters they learned to love in Impulse."
—SLJ, August 2011
"Hopkins addresses teens’ struggle with unrealistic expectations in gut-wrenching free verse."
—Booklist, August 2011
"At its nucleus, four teenagers are grappling with insecurities that become exacerbated when loved ones turn up the heat. . . . The unrestricted access Hopkins employs is formidable: parents, siblings, love interests, and outliers all thrust frank judgment on the characters. It is how Cara, Sean, Kendra, and Andre react that encourages readers’ emotional attachments. Her writing conveys teenage quandaries with all of the intended consequences, as the verse style only serves to shock as the events unfold."
—VOYA, October 2011
"Hopkins addresses teens’ struggle with unrealistic expectations in gut-wrenching free verse."
"At its nucleus, four teenagers are grappling with insecurities that become exacerbated when loved ones turn up the heat. . . . The unrestricted access Hopkins employs is formidable: parents, siblings, love interests, and outliers all thrust frank judgment on the characters. It is how Cara, Sean, Kendra, and Andre react that encourages readers’ emotional attachments. Her writing conveys teenage quandaries with all of the intended consequences, as the verse style only serves to shock as the events unfold."
"Hopkins addresses teens’ struggle with unrealistic expectations in gut-wrenching free verse."
Gr 9 Up—Ellen Hopkins's companion (2011) to Impulse (2007, both Margaret McElderry Books)), gives voice to four teens trying to live up to the expectations of others while also holding onto secrets. In Impulse, Connor, Tony, and Vanessa were confined to a psychiatric hospital after their failed suicide attempts. Here, Connor's twin sister, Cara, struggles to sustain the flawless façade that her mother has created while also coming to terms with her sexuality. Sean, Cara's boyfriend, has the perfect future mapped out with her, but the effects of steroids take a terrible toll. Andre secretly wants to be a dancer. And Kendra, Connor's ex-girlfriend, will stop at nothing to have the "perfect" body and modeling career. Told from alternating perspectives, Aya Cash, Heather Lind, Aaron Tveit, and Tristan Wilds vividly bring to life each character and their inner turmoil. With varying levels of voicing and character distinction, listeners will be drawn into the lives, hearts, and minds of these teens. As the stories weave into each other, the progression of the characters' desperation, and in some instances, disorder and addiction, are realistically portrayed. Raw and transformational, this audiobook can stand alone, but the story will mean even more to those familiar with the first title. A self-narrated author's note is equally powerful and will have listeners contemplating their own views of perfection. The long tracks, one for each alternating perspective, can be problematic, but not to any major detraction.—Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY
Hopkins, who is known for writing novels in free verse that tackle tough issues like drug use and homelessness, explores the struggle for perfection and the damage it can do. Four actors introduce the characters with the ennui of typical teens describing how their lives fail to meet parental or societal expectations. As the story unfolds, each narrator bares the soul of his or her character; none falls short of excellent in doing so. Since this is a spoken performance, minor distinctions in delivery, such as odd pacing at line breaks, indicate the print is in free verse. Only Tristan Wilds, as Andre, consistently stresses the title of each poem. Usually with an ensemble cast, one voice falls short but not this time. The title says it all. M.M.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
While not razor-edged like her previous work, Hopkins' portrait of four 12th-graders who are expected to be perfect will nonetheless keep teens up all night reading.
In a Reno suburb, expectations take heavy tolls. Trying to excel at baseball and get into Stanford, Sean takes steroids and spirals into rage and rape. Kendra does pageants but wants to model, so she schedules plastic surgery and stops eating. Andre takes dance lessons in secret, funding them with money that his wealthy, status-conscious parents give him for fashionable sweaters. Cara seems faultless at everything from cheerleading to grades, but she's falling in love with a girl. The four first-person narrations are set in different type and have mildly different styles, but the free verse lacks Hopkins' trademark sharp, searing brittleness. However, the less-sharp tone works here, because these characters are more depressed than dissociated. The ostensible focus on perfection is a coping mechanism against families that are absent, cold and brutally silent, so the consequences—anorexia, drugs, booze, rape, delusion, deception—all ring true. It also rings true that some characters buckle, worst off at the story's end, while others find themselves and may make it.
This page-turner pulls no emotional punches; readers should find Impulse (2007) first, because this is a sequel at heart, and knowing the prior work in advance adds crucial layers of meaning. (author's note) (Fiction. 13-17)
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170768011 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 09/13/2011 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 954,769 |
Read an Excerpt
Perfect
I’ve lived with the pretense
of perfection for seventeen
years. Give my room a cursory
inspection, you’d think I have OCD.
But it’s only habit and not
obsession that keeps it all orderly.
Of course, I don’t want to give
the impression that it’s all up to me.
Most of the heavy labor is done by
our housekeeper, Gwen. She’s an
imposing woman, not at all the type
that most men would find attractive.
Not even Conner, which is the point.
My twin has a taste for older
women. Before he got himself
locked away, he chased after more
than one. I should have told sooner
about the one he caught, the one
I happened to overhear him with,
having a little afternoon fun.
Okay, I know a psychologist
would say, strictly speaking,
he was prey, not predator.
And in a way, I can’t really
blame him. Emily is simply
stunning. Conner wasn’t the only
one who used to watch her go
running by our house every
morning. But, hello, she was
his teacher. That fact alone
should have been enough warning
that things would not turn out well.
I never would have expected
Conner to attempt the coward’s way
out, though. Some consider suicide
an act of honor. I seriously don’t agree.
But even if it were, you’d have to
actually die. All Conner did was
stain Mom’s new white Berber
carpet. They’re replacing it now.
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