Perfect Chemistry
by Simone Elkeles

    PERFECT CHEMISTRY by Simone Elkeles
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  12/23/08
    Publisher:  Walker Books
    Reviewed by:  Emily Ann
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Who says that southsiders and northsiders can't mix? Well, other than everyone at Fairfield High School on the
    outskirts of Chicago.

    Northsider Brittany Ellis has everything any teenager wants: popularity, money, and good looks. On the surface, her
    life is wonderful, but her perfect persona is just a cover-up for her troubled home life.

    Southsider Alex Fuentes has a bad-boy reputation, but all he wants is to get out of his gang and graduate.

    When they are thrown together as chemistry partners, life starts to make more sense. Written from both Brittany and
    Alex's perspective, this story shows what's going on below the surface for each person as they break through
    stereotypes and expectations that threaten to keep them apart.     

    This is like a modernized Shakespeare story, and after reading hundreds of books with plots similar to Romeo and
    Juliet, some stories start to blur into each other. PERFECT CHEMISTRY is not one of those books. It was
    addicting and the story was vibrant. The characters came to life and it was like I was there watching the story unfold.

    The way Simone Elkeles wrote the story was absolutely perfect.