Kevin Wilson

Perfect Little World is an unforgettable exploration of what it means to be family from New York Times bestselling author, Kevin Wilson. Aren't the best families the ones we make for ourselves? Isabelle Pool is fresh out of high school, pregnant with her art teacher's baby, and totally on her own. Izzy knows she can be a good mother but without any money or family to fall back on, she's left searching. So when she's offered a space in The Infinite Family Project - a utopian ideal funded by an eccentric billionaire - she accepts. Isabelle joins nine other couples, all with children the same age as her newborn son, to raise their children as one extended family in a spacious, secluded compound in Tennessee. But can this experiment really work - or is their 'perfect little world' destined to go horribly wrong?

Perfect Little World

Celeste Richardson

I did not expect this book to win my heart as solidly as it did. As much fun as I had reading Nothing to See Here last year, Perfect Little World impacted me much more deeply. I adore Izzy and Dr. Grind and Mr. Tannehill and the entire setting of this story. They’re weird, the setting and premise are weird, but wonderfully so on all counts.

Imagine a gigantic home comprised of ten nuclear families, all raising their children together. No, this is not a commune or a cult. It’s a long-term science experiment called the Infinite Family Project. Nine expecting couples and one single soon-to-be mother have signed on to live together for the first ten years of their children’s lives, only revealing to the children who belongs with whom at the five year mark. Until this point, the parents will essentially parent all of the children equally, with the kids sharing a communal bedroom and the parents taking shifts with them when not in their own small homes inside the compound. It’s a really weird senario. Will it help these children feel like they have a bounty of adults who love them? Will it help these parents, who are for the most part without real family, feel as though they have an unshakeable support system? Or will the entire project go down in flames?

While I was intrigued by the premise, the characters are what kept me invested. Izzy is such an unusual woman, and inside her mind was a unique, refreshing place to be. The same can be said for Dr. Grind, the other perspective character in this book. Wilson excels at penning loveably odd characters, and that is showcased to great affect in Perfect Little World. He also excels at unusual relationships. I love Izzy’s relationship with Mr. Tannehill. He’s much more of a father to her than her biological father. It’s probably my favorite relationship in the entire novel, though there are plenty more that are lovely. 

I thought this was a lovely story, and a lovely idea. We say that it takes a village to raise a child, but how much happier and healthier would our kids be if we tried to actually live out that idea? Even if our approach isn’t quite this radical, what would it hurt for us to reach out to families with little support? Kindness and compassion and genuinely caring can mean so much to lonely lives.

Samantha Seeman

Very interesting concept. Everyone wants what is best for their children. And almost everyone has heard the phrase "it takes a village" in regards to raising a child. This doc (and his investor) put those into action. While you know the project was doomed from the start (cmon, ten families living only together for approximately 10 years?) it kept you curious as to what the actual result would be in the end.
Speaking of the ending- I felt it was kind of abrupt and didn't really hit too much on the actual children in the project, but overall, ended about the way I expected it to. 

All in all, a pretty good read to start the summer.

Jan Talkington

I liked this book more than I thought I would. Mr. Wilson has some quirky ideas but in ways they ring true. I had to remind myself at times that this book is fiction as it does seem like it could be a real "it takes a village" experiment. A great find.

Anna

Keely Calagos

Danielle E

Jonah Stevenson

Kay Jamieson

lindy strauss

Ashleigh Izaguirre

When Isabelle Poole meets Dr. Preston Grind, she's just about out of options. She recently graduated from high school and is pregnant with her art teacher's baby. Her mother is dead and her father is a drunk. The art teacher is too much of a head-case to help raise the child. Izzy knows she can be a good mother but without any money or prospects, she's left searching. So when Dr. Grind offers her a space in The Infinite Family Project, she accepts. Housed in a spacious compound in Tennessee, she joins nine other couples, all with children the same age as her newborn son, to raise their children as one extended family. Grind's theory is that the more parental love a child receives, the better off they are. This attempt at a utopian ideal-funded by an eccentric billionaire-starts off promising: Izzy enjoys the kids, reading to them and teaching them to cook. She even forms a bond with her son more meaningful than she ever expected. But soon the gentle equilibrium among the families is upset and it all starts to disintegrate: unspoken resentments between the couples begin to fester; the project's funding becomes tenuous; and Izzy's feelings for Dr. Grind, who is looking to expunge his own painful childhood, make her question her participation in this strange experiment in the first place. Written with the same compassionate voice, disarming sense of humor, and quirky charm that made The Family Fang such a success, PERFECT LITTLE WORLD is a poignant look at how the best families are the ones we make for ourselves.

A Novel

Kate Foster

Hannah

Mandi Jayne

Jennifer Dieter

Catherine Hickman

Rachel Briggs

punkrockbookwitch

"Stellar . . . Compelling . . . Realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels." Booklist When Isabelle Poole meets Dr. Preston Grind, she's fresh out of high school, pregnant with her art teacher's baby, and totally on her own. Izzy knows she can be a good mother but without any money or relatives to help, she's left searching. Dr. Grind, an awkwardly charming child psychologist, has spent his life studying family, even after tragedy struck his own. Now, with the help of an eccentric billionaire, he has the chance to create a "perfect little world"-to study what would happen when ten children are raised collectively, without knowing who their biological parents are. He calls it The Infinite Family Project and he wants Izzy and her son to join. This attempt at a utopian ideal starts off promising, but soon the gentle equilibrium among the families disintegrates: unspoken resentments between the couples begin to fester; the project's funding becomes tenuous; and Izzy's growing feelings for Dr. Grind make her question her participation in this strange experiment in the first place. Written with the same compassion and charm that won over legions of readers with The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson shows us with grace and humor that the best families are the ones we make for ourselves. PRAISE FOR KEVIN WILSON "Wilson's novel is, more than anything else, a comment on social construct. On top of looking at outward factors to blame, this novel also asks us to look inward.. Wilson's intriguing, dystopian world leaves us with one moral that rings true for all families: whether created or born into - they are never perfect, but they are everything." The National Post "The author of The Family Fang invents another unusual family structure for his sweet and thoroughly satisfying second novel...Wilson grounds his premise in credible human motivations and behavior, resulting in a memorable cast of characters. He uses his intriguing premise to explore the meaning of family and the limits of rational decision making." Publisher's Weekly "Like an animated Edward Gorey cartoon, with a more realistic contemporary setting and a warmer, lighter touch ... Wilson pulls off his sweet-and-tart tone with a soupcon of unexpected spice." Washington Post "Persistently compassionate. . . . Wilson's best moments are funny and earnest . . . crisp language and smart plotting make Perfect Little World immensely likable and absolutely enjoyable." GQ

Perfect Little World

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