A Series That Stayed with Me

Titles: Perfect, Lush, and Bounce

Author: Natasha Friend

Sometimes it isn't just one book that stays with us.

Sometimes one book opens the door to an entire collection of stories that changes the way we look at people.

For me, that started with Perfect.

I was in eighth grade when I got my copy at a school book fair. In my English class, the students with the highest grades each semester were allowed to choose a free book. I was lucky enough to be one of them, and Perfect was the book I picked.

I had no idea at the time that I would go on to read Lush and Bounce, or that all three stories would stay with me well into adulthood.

Each book introduced me to a young person dealing with something complicated.

Perfect explored grief, body image, an eating disorder, and the pressure to appear okay.

Lush showed the impact that alcoholism can have not only on the person struggling with it, but on the entire family around them.

And Bounce explored family change, belonging, relationships, and trying to figure out where you fit when your life suddenly looks different than you expected.

The circumstances were different, but there was something connecting all three:

There was always more happening beneath the surface.

I think that's what stayed with me most.

These books gave eighth-grade me an opportunity to step into lives that weren't necessarily my own.

They showed me that someone's behavior doesn't tell us everything about them.

A person might be struggling with something we know nothing about.

A family might look one way from the outside and feel completely different to someone living inside it.

And two people experiencing the exact same situation can carry very different stories about it.

I didn't have words like trauma-informed or person-centered back then.

I just knew these books made me curious about people.

They made me want to understand why.

Now, I find it pretty incredible that I chose Perfect simply because eighth-grade me got to pick a free book.

Because that one choice led me to Lush and Bounce—and eventually to three stories that helped shape the way I thought about mental health, families, coping, and perspective.

Years later, those are ideas that have become central to the work I do.

Listen before assuming.

Be curious about what's underneath.

Remember that every person's experience is different.

And never assume you know someone's whole story from the chapter you happen to see.

Maybe that's why this series has stayed with me for so long.

It helped teach me, before I even knew I needed the lesson, that understanding people begins with listening to their stories.