Spring Assessment

Is anyone truly perfect?

There’s an estimation that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder such as bulimia, 7 million of those citizens being female and the other million being male. In the book Perfect, the main character, Isabelle, has bulimia. She keeps this problem a secret from her family until her sister, April, a.k.a Ape Face, catches her. After that, Isabelle must join a weekly group to resolve her habit. 50% of girls ages 11- 13 see themselves as overweight, which is what Isabelle believes of herself. While reading the book Perfect, I was surprised at how well it was formatted because of the fact that I could connect to the book, the fact that the topic truly does exist in the real world, and that there’s a strong moral to look for.

First of all, the fact that I could make a connection to this book really helped me understand and enjoy it more. When there’s a harsh topic such as bulimia, you honestly do need to see a professional to discuss it. During a part in the book, when Isabelle is embarrassed and humiliated to share as to why she has joined the group, I feel for her. I know what it’s like having to dish out all your feelings and problems to someone you hardly know. Having to do this in front of a group makes it all the more difficult, but I don’t know what that element feels like. Connections I made to this book go above and beyond, and most of them are all these nit-picky phrases and words here and there, but those are the details in the book that make it all the more appealing for me to apprehend.

Secondly, although the connection that I made, made the reading so much more enjoyable to read, the fact that this issue really does occur in the real world made it even more interesting. Two to three out of 100 women suffer from bulimia, and 10%- 15% of people that are bulimic are men, according to South Carolina’s Department of Mental Health’s website. Eating disorders do not only affect women, but men too. Teens and adolescents are also affected by this disease. 95% of people with bulimia are between the ages of 12 and 25. Unfortunately, teens, especially girls, have proceeded to harm themselves to please others as well as themselves, even though they are perfectly fine the way they are. A way to prevent more and more girls from harming themselves in the future is to lower the amount of bullying, because that’s a huge portion as to why teens are bulimic.

Last of all, with the fact of this topic being a real world issue, there comes a great moral with this book. With each happening in the book, comes a tiny moral, but the overall point of the book is to not put yourself down, and do not change, because you’re perfect just the way you are. Just because one person won’t date you because of your personality, doesn’t mean you should change it. If someone judges your outfit, don’t go to the mall to get a whole new wardrobe. Even though you may not be the skinniest person in the school, doesn’t mean you have to exercise 24/7 and puke up every meal you eat just to lose weight. These changes won’t affect how people think of you. If anything, they could potentially hurt you.

The fact that I could make a connection to the topic, that the main point actually does exist in the real world, and that the author was trying to get a very good point across is why I was surprised at how well the book Perfect was put together. This book really helped me understand how severe it can be giving yourself a lack of food and overall a lack of self-confidence, and unfortunately 80% of 13-year-old girls have attempted to lose weight. Now the burning questions is, is anyone truly perfect?