Little Imperfections: A Tall Tale of Growing Up Different

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Josie is currently experiencing a role reversal as she navigates the college admissions process with her seventeen-year-old daughter. She raised Etta with the help of her Aunt Viv and there are strong disagreements among the three about the best choices. Josie would like her daughter to avoid the mistakes that she made in her life and is overly involved in the process. Together they must find a balance while allowing Etta the chance to make her own decisions. Where do I begin? I suppose I'd like to start out with what I believed were this book's strongest points. The discussion on privilege and class were fascinating, and I thought that they were done with a very humorous but conscious hand. There were a few lines I laughed at and that were genuinely funny, and there were a few characters such as Aunt Viv that I grew to love.

Peet: It was really important to me to share my childhood experience in a relatable way and tell people no matter how you feel, whether you feel different or whatever, it doesn't matter because you're validated and you're perfect the way you are.

Customer reviews

Montzingo is originally a YouTuber, but became a TikTok star after his videos blew up during the pandemic. Users loved Montzingo's wholesome relationship with his mother, who has dwarfism. Montzingo -- who is the only person of "average height" in his family -- has created popular content about accepting who you are. Peet: So the bond, especially with my mom, it feels very like "we get it." It feels very natural. Like, growing up, we always had a special kind of bond, and you know I wish I had another word for "mama's boy," but I don't. I just really am a mama's boy. I'm just a lot like her, and so because of that we're able to be on the same wavelength for things. That's why the videos come so easy, and it's always fun when we're together. We caught up with Peet to learn more about his YouTube journey and what it was like becoming an author.

She sees some things in common with her mother. She was dropped off at Aunt Viv’s when she was four. She left her child with Aunt Viv’s while she chased her career goals. But Etta is growing up now and she just wants the best for her. There’s a problem, though. Etta is smart and she wants her to go to a well accredited college and get a good job. All Etta wants to do is dance. She wants to go to Juilliard. Josie is not happy with that but Aunt Viv is on Etta’s side. Everything in life is just a tad off but the author does an excellent job tying it together by the end of the book. Between the school and Etta’s fight for the music school, Josie is busy all through the story. It’s easy to relate to her problems. Most moms worry about their children. Peet: Yes, I definitely believe that The Cecil is haunted, only because of the things I've seen from living across the street. Now people actually live there, it's a homeless shelter, which is great, but before anyone was there, the things I would see like curtains moving and windows opening and closing by themselves and doors and figures and dark shadows. It came to the point that I started making videos about it, and people were like, "You're lying because where's the proof?" So I started trying to record the proof, and I started doing live streams, and people were like, "Oh my God, I see it too." I could go on like this forever. Yes, it's creepy, and I live alone, so I get as much garlic and salt and Bibles and whatever else as I can. This year seems like it will be crazier than ever for Josie. Not only is Etta graduating—and her future plans differ vastly from what Josie wants for her—but her best friend is determined to help Josie break out of her sexual slump. Peet: It truly is way more work than we thought. There's so much more logistical things you have to think about and all these different components. Even with the illustration — the illustrator would make the images and then I'd be like, "Oh, it doesn't feel right. I'm a perfectionist and my creative bone isn't tingling right now. Why is that?" And so I have to dissect it.Even though story’s direction and conclusion are predictable, I still enjoyed it. ( I always choose predictability over disappointment!) That being said, I found the book not only cringe-worthy and predictable, but also incredibly insulting in more ways than one. I want to make it clear that I am a queer woman and although I cannot speak on the themes of race, I do believe I can speak on the poor representation of LGBTQ people in this book. What I loved most about Tiny Imperfections is its honesty in portraying many things because it leads to many emotional moments, but also some highlights of hilarity for good measure--a mother, trying to navigate the next chapter in her life as her daughter prepares for college, the same mother in her day to day life as the director of admissions at a prestigious school. Tiny Imperfections shines with such a luxuriously witty tone, it's impossible for it not to coax at least one smile from its readers. Peet: Well, see to me growing up in a little family is just like normal, I guess. So, I feel like it would just be weird to think of anything else, you know having parents or family that is taller than me. With that being said, growing up that way, it was definitely an experience. You know, I was definitely able to do things like hide things on the top shelves. So as a kid, it definitely had its perks, but you know, as I was growing up, I started to realize all the different things that could be problematic having dwarfism, the health issues, and things like that. So I feel that it's really been a wild ride just kind of understanding it, and I still am obviously. I am obviously not a little person, but I feel like I really empathize and connect with them.

Exactly, a lot of this is about self-worth. So what would you say to someone who is still discovering their self-worth and now going on that journey? Overall, Tiny Imperfections was laugh out loud, feel good, and diverse women’s fiction with great characters and many hilarious scenes. I recommend this to fan of this genre. She grew inside me, developed a heart right underneath mine and sometimes I know what she's feeling before she does. Alli Frank and Asha Youmans' Tiny Imperfections is a lighthearted romp through the world of private school admissions, with some family drama thrown in for good measure.Pardon? This is a gay, MALE/MALE relationship. There IS no mom in the relationship, that is the point. This line insinuates that there needs to be a female figure in a gay relationship which is not only low key homophobic, but also in a way sexist. And the fact that the one gay character said this? Nope, just nope. The story is told through the empathic and humorous perspective of Peet Montzingo, the internet sensation who grew up as the only "tall" sibling in a family of little people. Written mostly in a millennial banter (think Facebook posts and texts by people of a certain age), this story of a kindergarten admissions director during applications season is fun. Although I got a little tired of the cute persona voice, there were times when real emotions came out and I found myself relieved and tuning in. This isn’t an ordinary children’s book. Why did you want to create a video and a book component for this project?