  | Perfect enough Author: Kuyatt, Meg Eden | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
Selah is a dragon. Or at least, she feels like one. Armed with her sensory tools, her notebooks and poems, and her newfound knowledge about her autism, Selah is heading to writing camp for the summer. She's excited to work on her writing, perform at the final showcase, and to meet more kids like her. As soon as she arrives, she realizes that her bully from home is there too. Ezra is always teasing her. Selah is determined not to let him ruin her summer. Companion to Good Different.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (04/15/26)
School Library Journal (05/01/26)
Booklist (06/01/26)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 05/01/2026 Gr 5–7—Kuyatt captures readers' hearts again in this second installment of Selah's story. Selah, a white, 13-year-old girl, is just getting used to her autism diagnosis. After a trying year at Pebblecreek Academy, nothing will be better than spending the summer before middle school at Writer's Camp. Armed with two new best friends, Brooklyn and Rheya, and a surplus of sensory tools, she is ready to live out her dreams of being a true writer. But when a group project is announced, and a rival from her past comes jumping through the window (literally), it will take every ounce of inner-dragon strength she must have a perfect summer. Along the way, Selah discovers that summers, like life, don't have to be perfect, just perfect enough. This sequel to Kuyatt's Good Different meets Selah, still coming of age, in a newly empowered identity. Strengthened by her self-advocacy and her powers in poetry, she's determined to push herself to her limits in pursuit of her dreams. Readers follow as Selah soars and then comes crashing down; a warning about bending until you break. This novel shows the complexity of the autistic experience, giving neurodiverse readers a mirror and neurotypical readers a window. Kuyatt presents the autistic experience in a realistic, unidealized light, one that readers of all ages may find comfort and understanding in. VERDICT An authentic novel-in-verse that will awake the inner-dragon of any reader; a sword of strength for neurodiverse audiences.—Ashton Conley - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 06/01/2026 In this resonant novel in verse, a companion to Good Different (2023), Kuyatt returns to the interior world of neurodivergent adolescence with clarity and care. Thirteen-year-old Selah, newly diagnosed as autistic, arrives at summer writer’s camp determined to become a “‘real’ poet,” but her first sleepaway experience quickly tests the limits of her carefully managed world. Writing workshops, collaborative projects, and late-night dorm tensions push Selah to confront the costs of masking and silence, particularly as she struggles to advocate for her sensory needs with friends Brooklyn and Rheya. Kuyatt deftly renders Selah’s sensory landscape–light, sound, and social ambiguity–while situating her within a warm but complicated community. The reappearance of Ezra, a former antagonist newly recontextualized through his ADHD diagnosis, adds welcome complexity, and their tentative “brain cousins” connection emphasizes recognition and mutual understanding. The accessible yet nuanced verse mirrors Selah’s emotional rhythms, building toward an unflinching depiction of autistic burnout. Kuyatt resists easy resolution, instead offering a more meaningful and satisfying conclusion: “perfect enough” becomes a hard-won reconfiguration of self-worth on Selah’s own terms. - Copyright 2026 Booklist.
