The Worst Perfect Moment

by Shivaun Plozza

Overview

Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this inventive queer romance asks what it means to be truly happy.

Tegan Masters is dead.

She’s sixteen and she’s dead and she’s standing in the parking lot of the Marybelle Motor Lodge, the single most depressing motel in all of New Jersey and the place where Tegan spent what she remembers as the worst weekend of her life.

In the front office, she meets Zelda, an annoyingly cute teen angel with a snarky sense of humor and an epic set of wings. According to Zelda, Tegan is in heaven, where every person inhabits an exact replica of their happiest memory. For Tegan, Zelda insists, that place is the Marybelle—creepy minigolf course, sad breakfast buffet, filthy swimming pool, and all.

Tegan has a few complaints about this.

When Tegan takes these concerns up with Management, she and Zelda are sent on a whirlwind tour through Tegan’s memories, in search of clues to help her understand what mattered most to her in life. If Zelda fails to convince Tegan (and Management) that the Marybelle was the site of Tegan's perfect moment, both girls face dire eternal consequences. But if she succeeds…they just might get their happily-ever-afterlife.

A tender and edgy take on coming of age in the afterlife.

"Filled with depth and wit, despite its dark tone . . . exceptionally well written . . . A worthy read about a short life brimming with possibility." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Plozza (Meet Me at the Moon Tree) strikes an expert balance between poignancy and irreverence, tackling topics such as death, parental abandonment, and self-worth in this queer romantic comedy that’s as tender as a bruise." —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823456345
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	05/14/2024
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	223,446
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Shivaun Plozza’s critically acclaimed debut novel, Frankie (Flatiron Books), was nominated to ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults List, was a CBCA Notable Book, and won a number of awards, including the Davitt Awards, a commendation from the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, and a shortlisting for the Inky Awards. Her second novel, Tin Heart, was nominated to ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults List and received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Bestselling author Jennifer Niven called Tin Heart “from cover to cover swoon-worthy, moving, deep, and funny.” Shivaun’s MG debut, The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars (HMH Books for Young Readers), was a JLG selection. When she’s not writing, Shivaun works as an editor. She lives in Victoria, Australia with her cat.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/04/2024

Sixteen-year-old Tegan Masters believes that a critical mistake has been made: she’s dead and, instead of going to heaven, she arrives at the Marybelle Motor Lodge in Wildwood, N.J., the location of her worst memory. According to Zelda—the cute but snarky angel who has reengineered the lodge down to the last detail, including the slimy mushrooms and the hidden foosballs—this is the place of Tegan’s happiest memory and where she will spend the rest of eternity. After Tegan files a complaint, the bureaucratic powers-that-be decree that Tegan and Zelda have one month to build their cases. Either Zelda must prove that her calculations were correct and Tegan is, in fact, where she belongs, or Tegan must persuade the powers that she’s not in heaven, but hell. As the duo traverse Tegan’s memories—depicted in third- person POV chapters—she confronts sweet and bitter recollections. Via Tegan’s prickly yet endearing first-person narration, Plozza (Meet Me at the Moon Tree) strikes an expert balance between poignancy and irreverence, tackling topics such as death, parental abandonment, and self-worth in this queer romantic comedy that’s as tender as a bruise. Tegan and Zelda cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ "Plozza strikes an expert balance between poignancy and irreverence, tackling topics such as death, parental abandonment, and self-worth in this queer romantic comedy that’s as tender as a bruise."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

★  "A fresh take on a possible afterlife, this narrative is filled with depth and wit, despite its dark tone. Its realistic depiction of a girl’s reservoir of coping mechanisms for dealing with those who have let her down is exceptionally well written. . . A worthy read about a short life brimming with possibility."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"By combining childhood heartache, teenage angst, and queer romance, Plozza balances out the exuberance of being alive and the devastation that Tegan only feels after she’s gone. A take on life after death that will leave readers entranced, frustrated, and on the edge of their seats."—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 2024-02-17
Now that she’s dead, a queer 16-year-old girl must pass a major test to get into heaven.

Tegan Masters is dead. She wakes up in what could possibly be the most depressing motel in all of New Jersey: Wildwood’s Marybelle Motor Lodge. It’s where Dad took Tegan and little sister Quinn in the wake of their mother’s leaving two years earlier. According to Zelda, the teenage angel behind the motel desk, they’re standing in heaven—“an exact replica of your happiest memory on Earth.” But according to Tegan, it’s actually her worst. And so, Tegan has gone to Upper Management to complain. If heaven is supposed to represent happiness, why is she here? Upper Management, having already had some issues with Zelda’s methodology, poses a challenge. If Tegan is right, and there’s a better representation of happiness from her life, then Zelda will be terminated—but if Zelda is right, and she chose Tegan’s happiest memory, Tegan will be sent to purgatory. So begins an emotional and epic this-is-your-life trip, with Zelda trying to prove her case. What neither girl expects is the sweetness of catching feelings for the other. A fresh take on a possible afterlife, this narrative is filled with depth and wit, despite its dark tone. Its realistic depiction of a girl’s reservoir of coping mechanisms for dealing with those who have let her down is exceptionally well written. Major characters are cued white.

A worthy read about a short life brimming with possibility. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews