Perfect World

by Brian James

Book Overview

From acclaimed PUSH author Brian James, a powerful, beautiful novel about growing up fast in a haunted suburban world. Lacie's best friend Jenna wants to grow up fast. She wants to be cool and be... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439673658
• ISBN13: 9780439673655
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Push
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Picture Perfect

How would you feel if everywhere you went you had to act like somebody else? Well welcome to Lacie's world, it's like she is in this play that doesn't stop but makes you sick to your stomach. This goes on for ever after the cryptic time of her family's life until she meets Benji. Benji helps Lacie realize that nothing else matters than what's on the inside. Lacie soon begins to find a spot for herself in life until once again things began to fall apart. I really liked the middle of the book because things started to work out for Lacie and her way of life. I also liked the character Benji because he was able to shift Lacie's way of thinking of herself. I disliked the part where Lacie had friends who weren't very nice to her at all because no matter how hard she tried she could never quite fit in. My very least favorite thing was that Lacie's Mom was always at work; I disliked this because you're Lacie's age that is the number one thing you need (your Mom). Anyone who likes drama and things about the real world than this book should be next on your list. In my opinion it is a girl book but suit yourself. I hope you enjoy it because I did.

Challenges of Maturity

Perfect World is a riveting fiction novel that tells about the challenges of adjusting to high school and becoming more mature. Author Brian James speaks from a fourteen or fifteen year old girls point of view. The book is set in a town that has perfectly planned out houses and evenly spaced trees. Everyone in town thinks they are perfect, and they do not talk about problems. The main character, Lacie Johnson, has many family issues though. Her father committed suicide two years earlier in their bathroom. Her mother works two jobs, and Lacie is forced to stay home to babysit her younger brother, Malky. Lacie's best friend has always been a girl named Jenna. Things have changed, and Jenna is more interested in boys and being socially accepted. Lacie is not as concerned about those things. Jenna meets a boy named Avery, and he introduces her to a boy named Benji. But as Lacie and Benji become closer, Lacie and Jenna start to grow apart. Lacie struggles to see the good in the world and feels like she is loosing everyone close to her. She starts to feel like she is going crazy just like her father. The book is written differently than most books. The sentence structure differs. Instead of using periods the author connects similar thoughts with varying amounts of periods; they are similar to ellipses. For example, a paragraph with about fourteen lines of text has only a single period. This book is also for an audience either about to enter high school or just recently started high school. The issues are better suited for them. Some parts of the book contain sexual acts but nothing sexually explicit. The most interesting part of book is how the author is a man, and yet he tells the story from a teenage girl's point of view. Brian James treats the subject of fitting into high school and finding out who you are as a serious issue. As I read the book I also found it hard to put down. It keeps the reader interested in what will happen next. It shows how the world we live in may not be so perfect at all. You have to look inside yourself to find out what a perfect world is to you, and strive to get there given the circumstances that are handed to you. Reviewed by Kathleen O'Reilly for Flamingnet Book Reviews. For more preteen, teen, and young adult book recommendations and reviews, please visit www.flamingnet.com.