Customer Reviews

Perk!: The Story of a Teenager with Bulimia

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book really explains what its like to obsess over yourweight, food, and and what your parents have to say. The mother wasreally cruel and didn't seem to care much about Perk, which make you feel for her all the more.The book is a really good read for anyone who has thoughts about the binge- purge cycle. The book really make you feel like you are Perk in more ways then one.Especially if you have struggled with any eating issues.

I read this book because I am a Bulimic myself and I understood what Perk was going through, food can be your best friend when no one to talks to you and when your parents are to busy to pay attention to you, but it can also be your worst enemy.
For Perk it was hard to resist food, when she is feeling down she stocks up on food and feels guilty about it later on.
This is a very good book especially if you are a Bulimic, you can really relate to the character in this book.

A young adult book that's written to be educational rather than as a piece of literature. And it shows. Perk is a sympathetic character and her disorder is portrayed realistly enough, but the conclusion of this book is far too easy and cheerful. You'll get a small look into the life of a bulimic, but this book wants to leave you thinking recovery is easy and your life suddenly becomes perfect.

I TOTALLY agree with the may thirteenth review "A really depth look at eating disorders".Perk's mother was really cruel. And I can't imagine my dad calling me names like Perk's dad did. The book was very effective. The author definetly has a talent for writing. She found a very effective way to show teenage girls, and women what bulimia really does to your body. People can't always accept what people tell them. Like when someone tells you if you have unprotected sex, you might get pregnant. Sometimes you don't want to belive that. So this book is perfect for those who feel bad about the way they look.

I read Perk! and I really liked it. I think that every teenage girl should read it. With the critism today, and the impression that girls should be thin, beautiful, and look like a barbie doll many girls suffer from bulimia and anorexia. I think that this book will help many young women and teenagers, as well as adults see the negative affects of bulimia.It shows girls that it only makes you look worse. Hopefully it will show girls that they should accept their bodies the way they are. I personally have never suffered from either of these diseases, but I do know that many young girls and women suffer from it , and I think this book will help them,and also hep those who are thinking about starving themselves or throwing up after meals.

I would recommend this book to anyone that thinks they are fat. I would also recommend this book to young girls so they can learn why bulimia is so bad. " Before I got married I was anorexic. Later after I was `cured' I had bulimia. I almost died from both diseases, they ruined my life at the time." Bulimia can make a big change in your life. I like this book because it teaches me about bulimia and at the end of the book it has a summary about bulimia. It explains the effects of having bulimia and the how to cure it. "Bulimia is a dangerous disorder which can be cured if recognized and properly treated." If young girls read this they will find out that they shouldn't be bulimic.

Although this was not the highest-quality book I have ever read in my life, I do not think that "Perk" glorified any of the aspects of bulimia like so many other eating disorder texts. I identified with Perk's situation and liked that the author 1) never mentioned specific weights and 2) did not set up a "perfect life" for her main character. Perk emphasizes that one can have an eating disorder at ANY weight-that you do not have to be emaciated to be tortured by eating disorders.

Perk is a novel about one girl's struggle with her family issues, and how it leads her to bulimia. Her family is cruel to her, and seem to care about her little sister more than they do about Perk. This leads Perk to binge and purge. This becomes the most important thing to her until something serious happens and Perk realizes that she can no longer live this way.
The ending is poor. It makes recovery from an eating disorder seem very easy and like eating disorders are more of a choice then an illness. However, it is a good read if you are as obsessed with eating disorder literature as I am.

This was a VERY powerful story...I read it twice! Perk WAS me. I was Perk. Liza Hall writes as though she has been through a hellish bout of bulimia, and she authors the book beautifully. This realistic fiction work deals with not only the abuse of self, but emotional abuse at home as well. Talk about literature that conveys feeling. I am a better person for having read it, and you will be, too.

Okay, this book is insultingly bad.

Liza (as in Minelli? or as in Gibbons?) is, I hope, writing for the pre-teen crowd.... but still, Judy Blume she's not. When I was twelve, I could still reccognize (bad writing) when I read it.

If your daughter wants to read this book, give her a copy of The Bell Jar (at least that book has some cultural significance). Let her thank you later....