*The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe by Tricia Springstubb

A shy, timid girl learns that “the most perfect thing in the universe” is right under her nose.

*The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe by Tricia Springstubb. Holiday House, 2021, 178 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-14

Loah Londonderry resembles her mother in being small and plain. Otherwise, the difference is stark. Loah is a homebody, a knitter and watcher of sitcom reruns, while her widowed mother passionately tracks rare bird species across dangerous terrain. Just now Mama is in the Arctic, of all places, on a research expedition. She was scheduled to come home with the rest of the group but has just sighted—or desperately hopes she’s sighted—a loah bird. Loah’s namesake, that is, a species thought extinct. So Mama can’t come home yet. She’s staying in the Arctic on a lone quest which may make her reputation. There’s nothing Loah can do about it except more homebody-ing with her guardian, tough-as-nails Miss Rinker and Miss Rinker’s gentle brother Theo. Loah had hoped for something better over summer vacation, like having Mama to herself. And she can’t avoid a sense of foreboding about mother land-roving across the frozen wastes alone.

Summer brightens with the appearance of Ellis, a girl as bold as Loah is timid, and Ellis’s mouthy little brother Zeke. They’re isolated homeschoolers with an odd skill set that may come in handy when Loah’s life starts to fall apart. She’ll need to break out of her small, tight shell and develop some of her own boldness and initiative.

Loah’s mother will frustrate moms who read this book: doesn’t she know what—that is, who—matters most in her life? But sometimes we have to love people for who they are. Loah may never have her mother’s undivided attention, but she can at least catch her mother’s zeal for discovery in the world. Loah will probably never be an explorer, but she will come to know that “The world was big and the world was small and that was the mystery of it.” Vivid characters and loving detail will waft a sense of that mystery to readers of all ages.

Overall Rating: 4.75 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4.5
• Artistic/literary value: 5

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

Reviews: See our reviews of Tricia Springstubb’s Every Single Second and Cody and the Fountain of Happiness (starred review).

Resource: Birds are a subject of fascination for ordinary people, not just ornithologists. See our “Birds of a Feather” booklist.

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