"Perfect" by Natasha Friend (172 pages)

“But maybe underneath all that perfect it’s not so great for them. You can’t always tell just from looking,” said pretty, perfect Ashley Barnum one night in Group. Coming to Body Image Therapy Group was now Isabelle Lee’s punishment ever since her sister found her with her face in the toilet and her fingers down her throat. With a dead father, a depressed mother and her snitching little sister, it seemed like group therapy was the last thing Isabelle wanted to deal with right now. She was sick of pretending that everything was “fine.” This is the kind of story that gives people hope and I think anyone who reads this will be rooting for Isabelle all the way to the end.  The author, Natasha Friend, did a great job of capturing the rather painful thoughts of a thirteen-year-old girl and teaching us readers that sometimes the toughest decisions are the ones that change things for the better.

Reviewed by Madeline Mayor