By Taylor Johnson (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: March 21, 2012
Ellen Hopkins has spiced up poetry in her latest book, Perfect. Yes, dear readers, poetry, but please don’t run quite yet. I guarantee this is not your Romantic poetry or structured sonnet. By using the viewpoints of four troubled teenagers as a back drop, Hopkins has taken parental expectations, school pressure, sexuality, addiction and, above all, the desire to be perfect, and thrown it all over the pages. Her simplistic wording not only paints an image in your mind, but has printed the image on the page. A reader can read the text backwards, forwards or even starting from the middle and working outwards and can still understand the message completely.
The typical-protagonist, popular high school senior Cara is troubled by her twin Conner’s recent attempted suicide (see Hopkins’s companion novel Impulse for Conner’s full story). The cold, detached parenting style of her mother makes home life a business deal; success will grant Cara rewards and benefits, but failure by her mother’s standards is deemed unacceptable. At school Cara must maintain a high GPA, popular baseball star boyfriend and a busy social life. She is unable to admit that she is tiptoeing on edge of sanity. Hopkins takes our interpretation of high school royalty and breaks it wide open, allowing readers to imagine their pressures and torments, which others were unable to comprehend by looking on the outside enviously at “Miss Popular.”
Sean, a star in baseball, has lost the one thing that mattered most in his life: the love of his life Cara. In one terrible night Sean has driven her away to another beau and must now watch as her life unravels. Love-struck and angry, he puts all his attention into bulking up for college ball in the coming year. However, when addiction spikes and side effects kick in Sean must decide if his ego is the only thing his actions have tainted. A new side to the male mentality, Hopkins exposes weakness, venerability and desperation – things one would not typically expect from jocks and manly-men. Relatable and realistic male readers looking for an intriguing read can find satisfaction in Sean’s story.
Independence to follow one’s dreams no matter the boundaries is the focal point of Andre’s story. The privileged Andre lives the perfect life, with a nice car and a house fit for a movie star. However, soon talk of university and medical school kicks in at the dinner table. Andre must decide if following his artistic passion is worth turning his back on the expectations of his successful plastic surgeon parents. A new girlfriend spikes emotions Andre has never felt before. She pushes him to fight for what he wants and determine whether the consequences are worth it in the end. Whether looking for closure to a lost dream or inspiration to follow those of your own, a reader can find passion or be inspired to find passion in reading Andre’s story.
Frail and wilting Kendra has been left heartbroken by her love, Conner. This trauma, however, has transformed passion into a promising modeling career. With a few less pounds, as well as a nip-and-tuck and readjustment, Kendra is well on her way to the perfect body. She hopes that with this perfect body, the perfect life will soon follow. Kendra loses sight of her own addiction and is faced with losing everything she has worked for. Tragically, Kendra’s story is probably similar to those of many young girls with eating disorders. A reader can find compassion and understanding by reading her story; they can dive into the mind of a theoretical character faced with real life disease.
Unafraid to test boundaries, Ellen Hopkins’ most recent book has revamped poetry and addressed it to a modern young audience. As with her other works, Hopkins takes the everyday struggles of real people and exposes the underlying disasters we all try desperately to hide. After having read this brave address to the issue of perfection, I found Perfect a perfectly realistic rendition of teenage struggle.
