Perfect - Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins has a unique writing style in which she uses poems to tell her story. The book Perfect is set in Nevada in the United States, approximately year 2011. The story follows four teenagers who are all preparing to leave for University soon and living a very pressured life. Cara lives with her demanding parents who never show her any affection and do not commend her for her outstanding performance in school. Her twin brother was recently checked into an institution for attempting suicide, but nobody had seen the signs before the incident and were all devastated at his attempt. Ellen Hopkins also tells the story of Cara's boyfriend, Sean, who is trying to become a professional baseball player and get into Stamford on a sports scholarship. His father and mother died at different stages in his childhood, and it is Sean's goal to become a ball player just like his father who was a coach. However, he begins to take steroids and these take control over his body and actions, jeopardizing his relationship with Cara. The third teenager is Kendra who is a pageant star and whose ambition is to become a runway model. Her lack of confidence in her academics has left her insecure and totally focused on her looks instead. This leads to an eating disorder, plastic surgery, use of painkillers, and denial. Her life became even more jolted after Cara's twin, Connor, attempted to kill himself because that was her boyfriend at the time. The fact that Kendra never saw the signs haunts her, and only makes her problems worse. The final main character in Ellen Hopkin's novel, is Andre, who is dating Kendra's younger sister. Andre's passion is dance, but his father does not support this as his career. He must attend his dance classes in secret and face peer pressure. His girlfriend, Jenna, is white and her father is a racist; Andre, who is black, is humiliated and insulted when first meeting Jenna's family. However, Jenna stands up for him and they both stick together.
Each of these kids are pressured by their parents to be flawless and they are all fighting to get into Stamford University. Their main battle is to separate what they want from their parents' desires and find happiness.