May 2020

I read TINY IMPERFECTIONS back in January after meeting the authors, Alli Frank and Asha Youmans, at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. Their presentation was so good that I could not wait to read it. In fact, Asha handed me her personal copy, which her mother had wrapped in a fabulous plastic cover.

The story takes place at an elite school where Josie Bordelon is the director of admissions for the incoming class of kindergartners at a swanky private school in San Francisco. She’s legacy at the school, and her Aunt Viv has worked there in the kitchen for more than 50 years. Her daughter, Etta, is graduating and is set on a career in dance, while Josie is thinking Ivies. Josie is single…and ready for a new relationship.

It’s brisk fun, and let me just add the tagline from the book: “All’s fair in love and kindergarten admissions.” At a time when kindergarteners are being homeschooled all over the country, this will be a perfect voyeuristic view into the world of private kindergarten and its gatekeepers. I think Alli and Asha should write a book about the moms who worked to get their kids into a fancy kindergarten only to have them boomerang back to them at the kitchen table. Seriously, I want this as their follow-up; it’s the new reality.