Messy Perfect
Written by Tanya Boteju
Published by Quill Tree Books
Cassie Perera is a star student in St. Luke’s junior class. But the new school year brings an unwelcome surprise—the return to St. Luke’s of Cassie’s former friend, Ben, who left a few years ago after a homophobic bullying incident Cassie knows she didn’t do enough to prevent.
Still harboring guilt from her inaction, Cassie decides, in her usual, overzealous way, to team up with the neighboring public school to found an underground Gender and Sexuality Alliance—as a complicated strategy for making things up to Ben. Secretly, Cassie is also tempted by the possibility of opening up about her own sexuality for the first time.
As Cassie’s new friends urge her out of her comfort zone, she unlocks a kind of joy and freedom she’s never felt before—even as she struggles to balance these experiences with her typical tightrope of being the perfect daughter, student, and Catholic.
Cassie’s perfectly curated life unravels into turmoil, but can she embrace the mess enough to piece together something new?
Primary ISBN: 9780063358492
Publication Date: April 2025
Available As: Hardcover, Audiobook, eBook
Young Adult, Age 13 or older
Community Represented: Sri Lankan/Sri Lankan American
Themes: Accolades & Awards, Activism, Allyship, Canadian Connection, Coming of Age, Cross-Group Friendship, Discrimination: Gender and Sexual, Discrimination: Racial, Family Relationship: Parents, Generation: 1st, Generational Differences, Identity: Exploration, LGBTQIA+, Religious Background: Christian, Welcoming by School
Setting: Canada
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: 1st Generation
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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