Perfectly Parvin

By: Olivia Abtahi

Narrated by: Mitra Jouhari

Odyssey Honor Audiobook

Fourteen-year-old Iranian American Parvin Mohammadi sets out to win the ultimate date to homecoming in this heartfelt and outright hilarious debut.

Parvin Mohammadi has just been dumped - only days after receiving official girlfriend status. Not only is she heartbroken, she's humiliated. Enter high school heartthrob Matty Fumero, who just might be the smoking-hot cure to all her boy problems. If Parvin can get Matty to ask her to Homecoming, she's positive it will prove to herself and her ex that she's girlfriend material after all. There's just one problem: Matty is definitely too cool for bassoon-playing, frizzy-haired, Cheeto-eating Parvin. Since being herself hasn't worked for her in the past (see aforementioned dumping), she decides to start acting like the women in her favorite rom-coms. Those women aren't loud, they certainly don't cackle when they laugh, and they smile much more than they talk.

But Parvin discovers that being a rom-com dream girl is much harder than it looks. Also hard? The parent-mandated Farsi lessons. A confusing friendship with a boy who's definitely not supposed to like her. And hardest of all, the ramifications of the Muslim ban on her family in Iran. Suddenly, being herself has never been more important.

Olivia Abtahi's debut is as hilarious as it is heartfelt - a delightful tale where, amid the turmoil of high school friendships and crushes, being yourself is always the perfect way to be.

©2021 Olivia Abtahi (P)2021 Listening Library

Critic reviews

A 2023 Sequoyah Book Award Nominee (OK)
A 2022 Golden Kite Honor Award Winner
A 2022–2023 Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee
A 2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick
A 2022 ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project List Pick
A 2021 New York Public Library Best Book Pick
A 2021 Chicago Public Library Best Book Pick
A 2021 BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Pick
A Book Riot Must Read YA Romance Pick

“Abtahi writes a touching contemporary that's hilariously heartfelt about one girl's journey to self-discovery.” —BuzzFeed

“Abtahi deftly navigates Parvin's transitional life phase, equipping her with enough humor and moxie to see her through even the toughest challenges . . . A joyful celebration of the right to take up space in the world.” —Booklist, starred review

“Abtahi’s charming debut will have readers cheering for Parvin. . . an incredibly charming, funny, and lovable protagonist who greets life with unbridled enthusiasm . . . as she navigates her two cultures with vim. . . A truly delightful story about a charming and engaging teen navigating freshman year.” —School Library Journal, starred review

Charming and Witty Diary of Teen Angst

Perfectly Parvin (hard a like patio and i pronounced ee) takes me back to my first delicate years of high school. Parvin’s true self-assurance is refreshing and I found myself rooting for her even during those quintessential awkward cringe-worthy high school moments.

A gem of an audiobook - takes the guesswork out of some of the pronunciations of none-English words and names.

I'm not a traditional fan of YA - I have read very few in my adulthood. And I thoroughly enjoyed Perfectly Parvin and her loyal and adventurous band of pals. #hotcheetoes

Fun read, Great voice

Perfectly Parvin, pronounced ParvEEn like “queen” not ParvINn like “bin” (thanks Audible for the helping me hear the difference) is the story of Parvin Mohammadi, the daughter of an Iranian father and a blonde, north-American-melting-pot-white mother, and that’s just the start of the contradictions for this out-spoken but insecure fourteen-year-old girl who’s tell-it-like-it-is voice is so authentic and engaging, you can’t help but fall in love with her.

At the start of the book, we find her literally waxing her body from eyebrows to arm hairs in an effort to look more like the leading ladies she sees in movies. This, together with a plan to tamp down her boisterous personality, is a calculated move to get a boyfriend. Which works…kind of. In the end, she gets the boy, but no longer bases her self-worth on his acceptance, a cast of bantering, loyal, call-you-out-on-your-b.s. friends helping her realize that being true to herself and her real friends is more important than dating the hottest guy in school.

If that’s all you get out of this book, you’ll love it. Take it to the beach. Read it on the bus. It’s a fun, engaging, easy read that sucks you in and transports you to a very diverse high school in Washington D.C. where you’ll experience all the angst, insecurity, and excitement of being a teenage girl trying to figure out how she fits in. But if you think about it a little more, you’ll see some real issues ripe for discussion. Things like U.S. immigration policy. Implicit bias. Positive vs. harmful role models. Self-image. The challenge and importance of connecting with diversity, even within a family. And of course, prejudice against the bassoon as an instrument (just kidding). These are heavy topics, but never overwhelm the story, which is ultimately about a teenage girl, who like the rest of us is just trying to figure out how to navigate this crazy, complicated world.

Interesting insights into Iranian food, culture, and the Farsi language as well. I’m definitely taking chia seeds the next time I go to a party. Read the book and you’ll see why.