Picture Perfect

by Elaine Marie Alphin

Overview

When Ian Slater's best friend, Teddy, suddenly vanishes, it's up to Ian to find out what happened. He and Teddy were supposed to take photographs together on the day Teddy disappeared—but Teddy never showed up. Rumors are flying, and everyone looks to Ian for answers. Has Teddy run away, searching for the father he's never met? Or has something more sinister happened? Ian doesn't know, and he can't quite remember everything that happened the day Teddy vanished. On top of that, he keeps having terrifying dreams and hearing strange voices. People are starting to say he's acting strangely, and the sheriff keeps questioning him. As Ian tries to hold it all together and search for clues to Teddy's disappearance, he strives to present those around him with the picture of a normal kid. But the more he finds out, the less he understands. How well does he really know Teddy? How well does he even know himself?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467766029
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	784,729
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Since her first novel for young readers appeared in 1991, Elaine Marie Alphin published 27 books for young people and one for adults (about writing for young people). Elaine wrote for readers of all ages, from Davy Crockett in Lerner's History Makers series for beginning readers up through teenage mysteries such as Counterfeit Son, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult mystery. Elaine loved research, and that love impacted all of her writing, from biographies for middle grade readers like I Have Not Yet Begun To Fight: A Story About John Paul Jones in the Creative Minds series through young adult fiction such as the history-inspired mystery, The Perfect Shot to the stand-alone nonfiction young adult book An Unspeakable Crime: The Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank.  

Editorial Reviews

Alphin (Counterfeit Son; Simon Says) again explores the psychological ramifications of physical and emotional abuse in this taut suspense novel set in the small town of Sawville. The narrator, 14-year-old Ian Slater, lives under the thumb of his father (one of the punishments he devises for Ian is making the teen sleep in the family closet), who is also the local school's principal. Ian has two ways to escape his pain. One is retreating to the redwood forest outside of town to pursue his photography, a passionate interest he shares with his best friend, Teddy Camden. The other is to "zone out": "It's kind of like disappearing into a fog-sometimes I can sort of see things through the fog, but most of the time I don't have any idea what's happening," he explains to a kind classmate. When Teddy disappears, and Ian cannot remember anything that happened that day, he becomes the local sheriff's main suspect. Ian uncovers not just his father's surprising role in Teddy's disappearance, but his own coping mechanism: the development of multiple personalities. Ian's father may be a stock character, but Ian is fully formed. Unlike the narrator of Counterfeit Son, who gained a true understanding of himself only at the conclusion, Ian's process is gradual, as he slowly recovers his memory, making his story a compelling journey of self-discovery and self-protection. Ages 12-18. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 9 Up-Ian's friend is missing, and no one knows what happened to him. Or do they? As Ian searches for clues, snatches of a forest glen and Teddy pleading for help keep creeping into his mind. On top of that, Ian's father, the school principal, has been putting extra pressure on his son to be perfect. The protagonist's three "personalities," School-Ian, Home-Ian, and Failure-Ian, all try to work together to do what is expected, but sometimes the expectations are too great and Ian "zones out." As he struggles to remember what he may have seen the day Teddy disappeared, he begins to understand what happened, what he is repressing, and what role his violent father played in his friend's disappearance. Once again, Alphin uses child abuse and the machinations of the mind to create her story, but this time it falls short of believability. While the setting is perfect and Ian's character is well developed, readers are likely to be puzzled by the initially unexplained voice Ian hears in his head. Also, some of Teddy's journal writing is obviously forced to advance the plot and may not ring true for teen readers. Because of the complexities of the relationships, reluctant readers will struggle, but better readers searching for a "male-oriented" mystery may be satisfied.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

After 14-year-old Teddy Camden inexplicably disappears, his best friend, an abused boy who "zones out" and cannot remember whole sections of time, has to confront his personal demons as he tries to figure out what happened. Ian Slater, a gifted photographer, has a secret. His father, the "perfect principal" of Ian's school and the leading candidate for superintendent, terrorizes his family. So complete is his domination, in fact, that Ian has internalized his father's criticisms of him and struggles to be "the son [his father] deserves." As Alphin deftly intensifies both the internal and external pressures on Ian, the reader becomes aware that he's not only worried about Teddy's safety, but that he will somehow jeopardize his father's promotion. Ranging through time, the novel, told in the first person by an increasingly distraught protagonist, zips along, though the surprise ending is all but impossible to buy. Still, disturbing, engrossing, and thought-provoking. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews