Eva wants to be the best. Her life revolves around being perfect at everything – to be the prettiest, smartest, most popular; but above all, to be the gymnastics queen, just like her sister, Amber.
“I'm just one of those people who just has to have the biggest half, if you know what I mean.”
She seems to have everything.
However, things begin to fall apart. New girl Patty arrives and suddenly Eva's mum is in rehab, her dad is absent and her best friend seems to care more about making out with Eva's brother than her.
With her life quickly unravelling, Eva clings on to the one thing she can control: her weight. But no matter how determined she is to stay slim, to be the best and to forget That Morning, secrets that have long been hidden start to resurface...
The plot moves at a steady, flowing pace and never fails to intrigue, excite, or dismay. It pulls a reader into the story with believable characters and realistic situations. Reading the book is an emotional journey in itself; it is a magnificent page-turner, impossible to put down.
Chris Higgins is undoubtedly one of the best young teen fiction writers around. She skilfully mixes passion into classic ideas to create a heart-wrenching explosion of emotions on a page. In ‘A Perfect Ten', she uses the thoughts and feelings of the main character in an incredibly authentic way and develops a story that the reader will never forget.
Higgins's book is a deeply moving novel. It addresses the issues of death, grief, family and friendship in a way all teenagers can understand. It helps readers think about a subject that is often hastily kicked under the carpet. It introduces the ideas of grief and moving forward, and helps raise awareness about children who may be suffering depression or denial, or living with parents who are.
“And when I take that gold medal home at the end of the day, it'll make up for the fact that Amber won't bring them home anymore.”
Higgins has delicately weaved other moral concerns into the story, such as bullying, jealousy, anorexia, obesity and obsessions. By doing this in a sensitive, insightful way she has written a book which is sure to stay with the reader long after they have put the book down.