Almost Perfect Review

"Eighty percent of everything you’ll learn in high school is useless, and you’ll never use it again. Twenty percent is indispensable, and you won’t be able to get along in life without it. Unfortunately, you won’t know which is which until after you get out of school, and it’s different for every person. Study hard." Brian Katcher

Full disclosure: Brian Katcher is one of my husband's oldest friends and he and his wife Sandy are the most sincerely nice couple I've ever been lucky enough to meet. Brian is signing our copy of the book above.

Last weekend we headed to Centralia for Brian Katcher's new book launch party for Almost Perfect, just released by Random House. It was a cold early Fall day in rural Missouri much like the setting for his latest book. Here is my review of his first Young Adult novel, Playing with Matches which just came out in paperback.

I got the chance to read Almost Perfect this week. It's a really hard book to describe without giving too much away. It is for young adults and deals with some serious topics that can be tough for parents to talk about. There is a transgender young person dealing with facing the world and finding themselves in a small town. And there is young love with all of its ups and downs and mistakes and drama. There is lots of humor and some tragedy, kind of like growing up in a small town as I should know.

I would totally recommend this book for a mature 13 or 14 year old, especially if they are dealing with gender or identity issues. But really I hope that boys won't be turned off by the very feminine and provocative cover. In the lead character Logan, they will find a not perfect boy who makes a lot of mistakes but doesn't give up trying which I find heroic in a way. I'm left wondering what becomes of Sage and Logan after the book ends just like all good fiction. Is this book perfect. I would have to say no, but almost.