The (not quite) perfect boyfriend, by Lili Wilkinson is the fifth book in the Girlfriend Fiction series, a collaboration between Allen & Unwin and Girlfriend magazine. The title of the series, the collaboration with the magazine and the cover design will lead this book (and in fact, the series) to be labeled as a “pink book”. And it is. Sort of. The thing about these pink books is that the writers of the series (at least the ones whose names I recognise) are well regarded, talented writers who also write books of other colours. One book in the series is even written by Scot Gardner. I have yet to read any of his books, but based on hearing him speak, he may be one of the least pink writers around.
I seriously liked Scatterheart, Lili Wilkinson’s first novel, so I was looking forward to The (not quite) perfect boyfriend even though I, as a late-thirties male am nowhere near the target demographic for this book. In fact, some people may think it’s a bit odd for me to read it at all. But hey, it’s my job. Anyway, on to the book…
Sometimes I wish I could just grow down and go back to primary school. Everything was easy then. School was fun, I was the Grade 6 Spelling Champion, and my best friend and I thought boys were disgusting.
When I wake up on the first day of Year 10, I realise how much has changed. School is hard. My best friend is boy-crazy. I have never kissed a boy. And no one gives a rat’s fundament about spelling.
The (not quite) perfect boyfriend is the story of Midge (Imogen) who is sixteen and has never been kissed. Midge comes back from summer holidays to begin year 10 and lies to her friend Tahni about hooking up with a handsome English boy named Ben, who unfortunately had to return home. She maintains this charade for a short while, even creating a MySpace page for him. This gradually gets harder to manage and looks like it will comes to a climax when a new boy arrives at school. His name is Ben, he looks more or less like the way she described her imaginary boyfriend, and he has an English accent. Tahni puts two and two together and thinks that this Ben is Midge’s Ben. He quickly sees an opportunity to help out Midge and plays along, but his co-operation comes at a cost (don’t worry, it’s nothing too sinister).
Meanwhile, Midge has been paired up for a project with the other new boy. George is not attractive like Ben, neither is he popular. He sketches dragons in his schoolbooks and tucks in his shirt. There are also rumours about him being kicked out of his last school. Add to this some problems at home and poor Midge has her hands full.
You may be able to guess how things pan out, and that’s fine, it’s still a good read. It’s not a heavy book, but not fluff either. It’s well written. The characters are likeable (or otherwise, where appropriate) and the ending is positive and happy. Oh, and Mrs Bookboy liked it too.
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