Cassie is a rule-following, perfectionist teen who starts an underground GSA at her conservative Catholic high school.
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?
Select Reviews
“Complex, gorgeous, and true, Messy Perfect lives up to its name. I loved it.”
— Elana K. Arnold, award-winning author of Damsel
“Boteju is such a gentle creator. Her stories are for young people, not to young people. They are everyday magic from start to finish.”
— katherena vermette, Governor General Award-winning author of North End Love Songs, The Break, and A Girl Called Echo
“A sweet, emotional read affirming those who struggle to find a place within religions that profess to hate who they are.”— Kirkus Reviews
“Boteju (Bruised) employs grounded and informative prose to deliver empathetic examinations of acceptance, guilt, and the pressure of meeting unrealistic expectations in this tenderly affirming novel.”— Publishers Weekly
“A very enjoyable novel that also conveys an important message: that no young person should have to choose between different parts of themselves and that, in the words of the main character, you should be able to be religious and queer and still be happy. This moving and heartwarming book is also a love letter to GSAs, by a writer who truly sees and understands the work so many students are doing to make their schools safer and more accepting for everyone.”— Robin Stevenson, award-winning author of Queer History A–Z and Pride Puppy
“Cassie’s emotional struggles, particularly how her queer identity fits with her religion, are handled with compassion and nuance. This affirming story about a teen learning to be true to herself without unrealistic expectations will be a balm for queer teens looking for stories of acceptance and belonging.”– Booklist