Audrey recommends: The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy
Genre: Realistic fiction
Reading level: Middle grade
Summary: Rahul enters seventh grade with one mission: to find one activity that he can be the BEST at.
Audrey says: This quick read was packed with more heart and character than I thought possible. Rahul, a gay Indian-American with OCD, has a lot of reasons he feels like he’ll never fit in, and he believes the only way to overcome these “shortcomings” is to achieve some kind of wild success. Luckily, Rahul has a fun-loving grandfather and a loyal best friend, who both advocate for Rahul when he would rather erase himself. Readers with perfectionist leanings will see themselves in Rahul’s absurd, accomplishment-based logic, and learn to give themselves the grace that a friend would extend.
