Finding Perfect – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Finding Perfect

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

book2016

87%

WISE Score

4.6

Amazon

A 12-year-old’s life gets messy when her brain starts demanding everything be exactly 'perfect.'

Finding Perfect

book

2016

87%

WISE Score

4.6

Amazon

A 12-year-old’s life gets messy when her brain starts demanding everything be exactly 'perfect.'

4.6

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4.6

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Screenwise Verdict

Finding Perfect is the opposite of 'brain rot.' It’s a smart, compassionate look at a kid whose brain is working against her.

Elly Swartz nails the 12-year-old voice without sounding like an adult trying too hard to be 'hip.' It’s a 2016 book, so it still feels modern and relevant to kids today. If you have a kid who is a bit of a perfectionist or struggles with 'what-if' thoughts, this is a must-read. It’s not just a 'lesson book'—it’s a genuinely good story that happens to be about mental health.

Age Fit

Best for ages 9 to 13. It’s written for that upper-elementary and middle school sweet spot where kids are starting to notice their own internal 'weather' and how it affects their friendships.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

It’s a grounded story about a 12-year-old girl navigating family shifts and friendship. It models how to ask for help and emphasizes that 'perfect' isn't the goal—connection is.

Imaginative

While it's realistic fiction, the way it externalizes Molly’s internal compulsions and her creative outlet through poetry shows a high level of emotional curiosity.

Safe

Extremely safe for the target age. It deals with mental health struggles (OCD), which can be intense, but there's no inappropriate content, violence, or 'shock' trauma.

Enriching

This is a top-tier empathy builder. It gives kids a vocabulary for mental health and helps demystify OCD beyond the 'I like my desk clean' stereotype.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

It’s one of the best middle-grade depictions of OCD—moving past the 'neat freak' clichés to show what intrusive thoughts actually feel like.
The family dynamic is messy but loving; the mom is away for work, which adds a layer of realistic stress many kids will recognize.
Molly is a poet, so the book celebrates using creative outlets to process big, scary feelings.
It doesn't 'fix' everything with a magic wand; it shows that managing mental health is a process, not a destination.

⚠

What to Watch For

Molly’s anxiety and her 'counting' compulsions can be stressful to read if your child is currently struggling with similar high-anxiety behaviors.
The plot involves a parent being physically distant (working in another country), which might trigger some separation anxiety for younger or more sensitive readers.

Conversation Starters

"Molly feels like she has to do certain things to keep her family safe. Have you ever felt like you had a 'lucky' charm or a routine you couldn't skip?"
"Why do you think Molly tried to hide her struggles from her dad for so long?"
"What’s the difference between wanting to do a good job and feeling like things HAVE to be perfect?"
"If you had a friend going through what Molly is, how would you want to help them?"

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