Customer Reviews

Walking Naked

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

 

 

This novel is based on a teenage girl named Megan Tuw who goes through the troubles of a popular girl in high school. She was one of the leaders in the crowd along with her best friend Candace. Everything was fine untill she got into detention with the freak, the outcast, Perdita Wiguiggan. As time past Megan had become a little distant with her best friend and thought Perdita was pretty interesting. But if she choses to become friends with Perdita, her reputation would be ruined and the whole school would be against her.
I had to read the book for Literature circle and it was one of the books that I actually finished.(teachers don't check if you read it or not.) I love the book because it was very realistic and well written. Definitely worth a read, especially to teenagers. It would teach people a lesson and to think before they act.
This book lost a star because I didn't understand the poems. Since this is mainly a teen read, the poems seemed as if it was to be read by older people. But don't worry, there arn't many poems and they don't affect the way you read the book.
If you havn't read it, I suggest you pick up the book today.

Walking Naked is a excellent book. Its about Megan whos popular befriending the school outcast Perdita. Megan is soon faced with a choice to chose between her friends in the cool crowd or being an outcast with Perdita. That is one part in the storyline were Perdita acted like a lunatic in front of one of Megan's friends. The ending is shocking and sends a wake up call to Megan. I loved this book. Any teenage girl between the ages of 13-19 should definetly read it.

Alyssa Brugman's debut novel in the United States, WALKING NAKED, is an extremely powerful piece of literature. Brugman accurately and horrifically portrays the high school scene and the peer pressure that is faced while in high school.

The protagonist, Megan Tuw, has always been part of the in-crowd. This popularity gives Megan a sense of security and sometimes gets her into trouble, as is the case when she is kicked out of a class for talking. Megan's attitude earns her detention, where she spends time with "the freak" of the high school, Perdita. Megan realizes, through the writing assignments that they are required to do while in detention, that Perdita is an intelligent and complex person. She begins to spend time with Perdita, keeping these outings a secret from her friends. Megan knows that the in-crowd would ruin her status as a popular figure if they knew that she was becoming friends with "the freak."

At some point within the novel, Megan is faced with a difficult choice: Perdita or her popular crowd. Brugman realistically portrays the turmoil that Megan goes through --- her fears of losing popularity and hurting her friends, her jealousy of being replaced, her feelings of inferiority when spending time with the more intelligent and knowledgeable Perdita, and struggling to figure out how to be true to herself.

Readers of WALKING NAKED will be able to relate to the pressures of being popular and of needing to have the right clothes, the right friends and the right looks. The characters here talk and behave as real-life high school students would. While disturbing, this is an important book that should be read by a majority of teenagers.

--- Reviewed by Melissa Palmer

I thought it would be a good book but it turned out really sad. I would have to say I hated it. I read it because I had to for school. If you really get into a book and like to know how everything ends this is not a book for you.

I bought this for my daughter as required reading for English and it ended up being her favorite book.

Walking Naked is a good book. The protagonist Megan kind of annoyed me though. Her character and sense of judgement of Perdita is totally wrong, and it's obvious because of the group of friends she hangs out with. They chant, "FREAK! FREAK! FREAK!" at Perdita when she walks past them. Wtf? Megan, in my opinion, was a somewhat typical stereotype of a teenage girl who is all about being in the clique and everything, but acts mean to the ones who are weird.

hello, i have read this book, and i think its the best book in teh world. after reading this, powerful, exciting, emotional book, i cried for about 5 days afterwards, it felt as if i acctually knew the characters really well! thank you for such a beautiful, aspiring, heart toughing book!
ashlea mansfield

Walking Naked takes place in a high school in Australia. The main character is a girl named Megan. Megan belongs to the basic cliche of a group of 'popular girls'. She and her gang run the school and set the standards of 'cool'. And of course, there is one person in this school who is a complete and total outcast. Her name is Perdita, she is unwanted among everyone. Her more common name is 'the freak'. Megan ends up in detention one day and its just her andd Perdita. Over the days, Megan starts to get to know her, in secret Megan goes over to Perdita's hosue and basically 'hangs out'. Soon enough, other people find out...if Megan continues her reputation will be ruined among her peers. Now Megan must choose between a gang of girls whose shes known forever, but have never been her 'friend' or one outcast girl whos shes barely known but ends up to be her only realy friend. Walking Naked is a fabulous book, it really changed my views on things. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good book that will really open their mind. I do warn you however, that this book deals with suicide, but if you dont mind that, then this definetly is a great book by a awesome author!

Megan, the leader of a clique of the elite students in an Australian high school,is sent for a week of afterschool detention. While there, she meets outcast Perdita, known by the elite girls as The Freak. She gets to know Perdita as a real person, but doesn't have the courage to stand up to the other girls and claim her friendship with Perdita. This has disastrous results, both for Megan and for Perdita. Megan narrates the story, with a true voice. Perdita is a bit less true-to-life, but I liked her nonetheless. As an adult, I could see trouble looming, but a teen might get swept up into the tragedy. This book was recommended to me by a teen reader who said she enjoyed it.

A little over four years ago I found this book in a bookstore in Hobart, Tasmania. Since I teach high school English, I asked the owner of the store what high schoolers were reading and loving in Australia; without pausing, she walked down an aisle and stopped at this book.

I started reading it on the long plane ride back to the United States and finished it in less than two hours. I'll never forget my kids asking me what was wrong when I finished it, as tears were streaming down my face, and I didn't even know it.

That spring it wasn't being published in the United States yet, but I had to "test" it on my freshmen at the private school where I work, so I ordered a class set from Hobart. Even though it is a "girls' book", my male students easily took to it. It was the perfect book to teach before beginning my poetry unit, too, as we discussed the many awesome poems that Brugman includes. Since then, it has been, hand's down, the most memorable book that my freshman read each year. I even have them find the "Perdita's" in their grade and spend a week reaching out to them as part of a personal project that is shared with no one but me. There is no better book about the importance of being AUTHENTIC, even when it is not the popular thing to do.