The Perfect Place

Starred review from February 12, 2024
When Lucas, portrayed with brown skin, receives a perfect score on his robot report, he floats “with his head held high.” But his father’s truck breaks down after school, the electricity at home is again shut off, and his mother rushes to work before he can show her the report. In his apartment bedroom, he considers the peeling paint and orange juice–stained rug. Later that night, a strange light lures Lucas down the fire escape and to a golden gate inside which “the perfect people lived” amid wide, bright streets, and where the mayor presents him with a Medal of Perfection for reciting his report. Then a boy in the crowd, who looks eerily like Lucas, causes an orange juice spill, resulting in silence and shame. The mayor speaks of healing after the incident, a uniformed crew cleanses the spot, people assure each other that “all could still be perfect in their perfect place”—and Lucas runs for his home, where authentic connection abounds. Digital illustrations by Escobar (A Plate of Hope) juxtapose the warmth of Lucas’s metropolitan neighborhood against a brightly oppressive alternate realm as Newbery Medalist de la Peña weighs perfectionism against the messiness of real-life love—“the right kind of imperfect.” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Amy Kitcherside, Pickled Ink.