Perfect by Kiri Jorgensen

Sal is not an average 12-year-old girl. She wears perfectly pressed clothes to school, counts steps from class to class, and doesn’t like to let others into her world of OCD—that is, until she joins weather club. She finds studying snowflakes fascinating and begins to let her walls down with the club. Then, lots of phones start going missing at school, and Sal realizes her ability to notice patterns could help find the thief.

Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Read Aloud: Ages 7 and up

This middle-grade realistic fiction novel is a sweet delight. Well-developed characters and unexpected turns keep the story engaging from start to finish, making it a refreshing and enjoyable quick read. Sal is especially easy to root for as she stretches herself to overcome the challenges of her OCD while also embracing the parts of her neurodivergence that make her truly shine. While the mystery is a bit “light,” there are a few fun scenes that will get your child’s imagination turning. Overall, this is an excellent read that will also likely grow your child’s compassion for neurodivergent children.

Language:
Sal calls her sister bossy.
Sal refers to herself as a freak.

Questionable Behaviors:
Sal tries to sneak out of the house to look at snowflakes after bedtime.
As part of her OCD, Sal places everyone into tiers of how close she can get to them. This causes her to judge people unnecessarily. She also puts her mom in a “lower” tier than her dad.

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