Anna Kerz’s first novel, The Mealworm Diaries, focused on the trials of Jeremy, a boy from Nova Scotia, as he adapted to a new life in Toronto after his father’s death. In Better Than Weird, Kerz employs the same setting and characters, but focuses this time on Aaron Waite, the bright, impulsive “weird” kid whom Jeremy befriended in the previous volume. It’s fitting Aaron should get his own book this time around, given the fact he stole the show whenever he appeared in Mealworm.

Aaron is counting the days until the arrival of his dad, whom he hasn’t seen since his mother died of cancer eight years earlier. Aaron has been raised by his exasperated, overwhelmed, but ultimately loving grandmother. Other than some sporadic phone conversations, a photograph, and a few dim memories, Aaron doesn’t know his father at all. He is both excited and terrified by the impending reunion – and so are we. He makes lists: one detailing all the things the two of them will do together, and another describing things his father will teach him. But he also worries: will his father consider him too weird? Will he leave again?

Meanwhile, at school, Aaron has lots to keep him occupied. He must avoid the class bully, Tufan (a good candidate for Kerz’s next protagonist), repair his precious friendship with the reluctant Jeremy, and work with his therapist. Kerz is brilliant at describing these challenges from Aaron’s perspective, and she does so without a trace of sentimentality.

When Aaron’s father finally shows up, what happens is, as one might expect, neither dream-fulfillment nor disaster. It’s a messy and far from perfect outcome for Aaron, but after spending some time with his own messy imperfections, we wouldn’t have it any other way.