A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A 2023 White Pine Award Nominee
For seventeen-year-old Adanna Nkwachi, life is all about duty: to school and the debate team, to her Nigerian parents, and even to her cousin Genny as Adanna helps prepare Genny’s wedding to Afrobeats superstar Skeleboy. Because ever since her older brother, Sam, had a fight with their parents a few years ago and disappeared, somebody had to fill the void he left behind. Adanna may never understand what caused Sam to leave home, but the one thing she knows is that it’s on her to make sure her parents’ sacrifices aren’t in vain.
One day, chance brings the siblings together again and they start working to repair their bond. Although she fears how their parents will react if they find out, Adanna’s determined to get answers about the night Sam left―Sam, who was supposed to be an engineer but is now, what, a poet? The more she learns about Sam’s poetry, the more Adanna begins to wonder if maybe her own happiness is just as important as doing what’s expected of her.
Amid parental pressure, anxiety over the debate competition, a complicated love life, and the Nigerian wedding-to-end-all-weddings, can Adanna learn, just this once, to put herself first?
Twice As Perfect
"I'm tired of being better.
I am better already.
I want to be happy, too."
Critical Praise for Twice As Perfect
"Onomé artfully weaves emotionally dense commentary on straddling multiple cultural identities and meeting immigrant familial expectations with playful dialogue in Nigerian pidgin and compelling characters, making for a full, feel-good read. Recommend this to fans of realistic fiction and children of diaspora seeking joyful representation." - BCCB
"Deftly drawn, charismatic characters bring a measure of humor to the story and reverently convey aspects of Nigerian culture." - Horn Book Magazine
"Twice As Perfect intricately weaves together the profound pressures of being the children of immigrants with the enormous love of one's culture and family. A beautiful and multifaceted novel that is sure to tug on anyone's heartstrings." - Adiba Jairgirdar, author of Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating