“You’re either FIRST or LAST. In fact, anything below First Place is a disgrace.” So many teens these days are too caught up in their grades, thinking their knowledge and worth come from a mark on a paper. Paula Yoo’s inspiring work of realistic fiction, Good Enough, allows teens like me to realize they’re not alone in questioning if they’ll ever reach society’s expectations, levels of beauty and intelligence that seem impossible to meet.

Patti Yoon, the main character of Good Enough, is a Korean American teenager living in New York, and it’s clear from the beginning that her parents don’t mess around when it comes to hard work. Patti plays violin and loves it, but her parents make sure her focus is on being in the elite group of students who get a 2300 on their SATs and make it into “HARVARDYALEPRINCETON,” which is the motto the Yoons live by. Throughout the novel, Patti’s change in perspective is evident. She realizes that although grades and college are very important, there’s more to life than a transcript. With the help of her youth church group and a cute boy she doesn’t stop thinking about, Patti learns to break the rules sometimes and she realizes her standards are the only ones she should try to meet. The wide range of meaningful topics this book covers, from simple friend drama to racism, made me acknowledge that sometimes change is needed.

Paula Yoo, the author of Good Enough, is Korean, and her knowledge of the culture helps Patti come to life through internal dialogue and Korean recipes scattered throughout the book. Yoo’s style is very casual yet descriptive. A great example of this is from chapter one of the book: “He hands over his music. His fingers brush against mine as I take the music from him, the tissue thin paper crackling in my hands. I can still feel the imprint of his fingers, warm against my skin, as he lets go.” These few sentences put readers in the scene without it feeling forced. Yoo has the talent to make sure her readers aren’t distant from the plot.

The main reason why I feel so strongly about this book is that it’s relatable. My friends and I were always so worried about what we got on a science test, and what other people got on their science test. We were always concerned about not doing as good as others, but reading Good Enough showed me that I have to chill, which is what I’ve been trying to do the past few years. It’s nice to see that being obsessed over school is normal, but it becomes excession, which is what so many of my peers don’t seem to understand. “Even though my dad is helping me find the answer to this one [math] question, there are now suddenly many more questions that I don’t know the answers to.” Patti learns that not knowing the answer is okay, and her realization hit home for me.

Paula Yoo’s gorgeous debut novel, Good Enough, exceeds all of my standards. The book somehow covers every aspect of the life of a teen applying to college, which is so much more complex than it sounds, in 322 pages, and it gives the perfect message to its young teen audience. Yoo wrote in a blog, “I have always championed diversity and universal themes in kid literature, along with Asian American issues.” This novel, while entertaining, teaches many lessons. In fact, what makes this storyline so special is that while Patti learns to embrace who she is, she teaches others that who they are is more than good enough.