The Other Side of Perfect by Melanie Florence & Richard Scrimger

Two kids from different worlds form an unexpected friendship.

First published as Autumn Bird and the Runaway. Cody’s home life is a messy, too-often terrifying story of neglect and abuse. Cody himself is a smart kid, a survivor with a great sense of humour that helps him see past his circumstances and begin to get himself out. Autumn is a wealthy girl from an Indigenous family who has found herself in with the popular crowd even though she’s not sure that’s where she wants to be.

One night, while returning home from a movie, Autumn comes across Cody, face down in the laneway behind her house. All Cody knows is that he can’t take another encounter with his father like the one he just narrowly escaped. He can’t go home. But he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. When Autumn agrees to let him hide out in her dad’s art studio, Cody’s story begins to come out, and so does hers.