2008-03-18 Courtesy of Teens Read Too

After finding his office destroyed (though there is never any explanation as to why it had been destroyed), Kate's father quits his job to follow his dream. And that dream is to sell Perfect You vitamins. At a stand in the middle of the mall. Could life get any worse?

For Kate, it can, and it does. Her best friend, Anna, will no longer speak to her. After spending the summer in Maine, Anna has come back gorgeous and is welcomed into the popular crowd. Anna snubs Kate in school, but in private strings her along, telling her that she knows Kate will always be there for her.

To add insult to injury, Kate learns that her mother has invited her grandmother to move in with them. Kate's grandmother has money, and Kate's family is now hurting financially due to her father's crazy dream.

And then there's Will. If everything else didn't already have Kate wound up, Will alone could've done that. Kate keeps pushing Will away before Will has the chance to mess with Kate's head.

During her sophomore year of high school, Kate has more than any 16-year-old should have to handle. PERFECT YOU is a story of one girl's struggle to fit in to a world that keeps changing. All Kate wants is the staid life she has come to know and expect. But no one else seems to realize that's the way it should be.

I have to admit that I was going to give this a 4 star rating. Kate was a bit annoying and constantly pushing people away. But the last fifty pages of the story changed my mind. Kate finally learned to stand up for herself and fight for what she wanted. Her grandmother and her brother finally made Kate realize that she was the one holding herself back.

If you are looking for a feel-good, easy teen novel, this is not the book for you. Ms. Scott writes a shockingly realistic look at how brutal life in high school can be. The story flows quickly and you do get caught up in the characters in the book. There are happy moments in the story, which I don't want to spoil, and you do want the best for Kate in the end. It takes Kate a while to come to terms with the changes in her life, but she does come out okay on the other side.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr