Future Perfect
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Jen Larsen, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Stranger Here and a subject of the Oprah Winfrey Network TV show In Deep Shift with Jonas Elrod, tells a liberating story of hard-won self-acceptance—a tale of one girl, who knows that weight is just a number, and that no one is completely perfect.
This is a distinct, complex debut from a new voice in YA with an unforgettable main character whose doubts and insecurities will resonate with readers, and shed light on the dangers of taking on others' expectations instead of your own.
Underscored by a fierce intelligence and a dry, disarming wit, Future Perfect will satisfy fans of such authors as Maureen Johnson.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Larsen's 2013 adult memoir, Stranger Here, detailed her own experience with having weight-loss surgery; in her first book for teens, a high school student must decide whether she will do the same. Ashley is beautiful and popular, has a loving boyfriend, and is valedictorian of the best high school around. But Ashley is also fat something that doesn't bother her at all, but that her grandmother believes stands in the way of a successful future. Each birthday, Ashley is wracked with anxiety as she awaits her grandmother's inevitable present: a homemade coupon for something Ashley desperately wants (a shopping spree, a trip to Paris) in exchange for losing weight. On Ashley's 17th birthday, her grandmother offers to pay for Ashley's Harvard education if she will undergo weight-loss surgery. A drawn-out lead-up to Ashley's grandmother's yearly wager and digressions about Ashley's friends cause the plot to drag, but when Larsen focuses on Ashley's struggle to make her decision regarding surgery, as well as her pride in her natural shape, the novel is a moving, empowering read. Ages 13 up.
