Nobody's Perfect - Hardcover

Matlin, Marlee; Cooney, Doug

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 068986986X ISBN 13: 9780689869860

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

"She's practically perfect," Megan said thoughtfully. She repeated the new girl's name, practicing the way Ms. Endee had written it on the whiteboard. "Alexis Powell."

Megan has spent forever planning her positively purple birthday sleepover. She's even made glittery purple invitations for every girl in her class. Then a new girl, Alexis, joins their class. Alexis seems perfect: She's smart, pretty, and rules the soccer games on the playground. But no matter how hard Megan tries to be a friend to Alexis, the new girl is aloof or rude. At first, Megan thinks Alexis is shy. Then Megan starts to fear that Alexis is treating her differently because she's deaf. When the girls are forced to collaborate on a science fair project, Megan learns the truth -- and realizes that nobody's perfect.

Once again Marlee Matlin draws on experiences from her own childhood to tell Megan's story. In this funny, poignant book, readers will root for Megan, a spirited young girl who doesn't let anything stand in her way.

About this title

About the Author

Marlee Matlin, deaf since she was eighteen months old, won the
Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in
Children of a Lesser God. She was nominated for Emmy Awards for
her performances in Seinfeld, Picket Fences, The
Practice, and Law & Order: SVU. Her film credits include
It's My Party and What the Bleep Do We Know!? She is the
author of Deaf Child Crossing. She has made numerous television
appearances and currently appears on The L Word. Marlee Matlin
lives in Los Angeles with her husband and four children. Visit her at
www.marleeonline.com.

Doug Cooney is the author of the middle-grade novels The
Beloved Dearly and I Know Who Likes You. His musical
adaptation of George Saunders's The Very Persistent Gappers of
Frip recently premiered at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles,
produced by the Mark Taper Forum P.L.A.Y. Cooney also teaches songwriting
and collaboration for Voices Within, an educational outreach program of
the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He divides his time between Los Angeles
and South Florida. You can visit him at www.dougcooney.com.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–This sometimes-tedious sequel to Matlin's Deaf Child Crossing (S & S, 2002) focuses on Megan, a deaf girl whose speechreading and signing skills allow her to thrive in the hearing world. Megan can't wait for her positively purple birthday party, but her perfect plans get derailed when a new girl, Alexis, joins her class and rebuffs Megan's invitation. Alexis seems to be smart, athletic, and pretty, but she brushes off all of Megan's attempts to be friendly. Not until the two girls are paired up for a science project does Megan find out the reason behind Alexis's behavior. She's ashamed of her autistic brother and is afraid that her new classmates will find out about him. When Megan teaches him some basic sign language, it opens up communication with both him and Alexis. As in the first book, every character except Megan is sketchy at best, and the plot hangs on the flawed, funny forcefulness of the protagonist's giant personality. Information about Megan's school days, though often clunkily inserted into the story, provides interest. Readers unfamiliar with deafness will be fascinated by the descriptions of how she studies for a spelling bee and her interactions with her American Sign Language interpreter in the classroom (though actual interpreters will be appalled at the woman's use of bright red nail polish, an extreme no-no). Illustrations showing the manual alphabet are appended.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 068986986X
• ISBN 13: 9780689869860
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240