A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT; Linda Urban; New York: Harcourt, 2007, 211pp. Fiction
Nine-year-old Zoe Elias yearns to play the piano--a baby grand, in the manner of Vladimir Horowitz. Her father responds to her musical wishes by bringing home a "wood-grained, vinyl-seated, wheeze-bag organ. The Perfectone D-60." Desperate to play just about anything, she starts up lessons with Mabelline Person (Per-saaaahn) , a ginger-ale loving instructor who sees her talent and takes her all the way to the Perfectone Perform-O-Rama,
where she plays Hits of the Seventies to universal acclaim. Throw into this already laugh-out-loud mix her agoraphobic father (holder of umpteen degrees from Living Room University), her totally unexpected new friend, Wheeler Diggs, to whom she is known as Zsa Zsa Goober, and Merv, the fast-talking organ salesman and you have a classic screwball comedy. Zoe and Wheeler both act older than their nine years, but this story is so fun, who cares?
Nine-year-old Zoe Elias yearns to play the piano--a baby grand, in the manner of Vladimir Horowitz. Her father responds to her musical wishes by bringing home a "wood-grained, vinyl-seated, wheeze-bag organ. The Perfectone D-60." Desperate to play just about anything, she starts up lessons with Mabelline Person (Per-saaaahn) , a ginger-ale loving instructor who sees her talent and takes her all the way to the Perfectone Perform-O-Rama,
where she plays Hits of the Seventies to universal acclaim. Throw into this already laugh-out-loud mix her agoraphobic father (holder of umpteen degrees from Living Room University), her totally unexpected new friend, Wheeler Diggs, to whom she is known as Zsa Zsa Goober, and Merv, the fast-talking organ salesman and you have a classic screwball comedy. Zoe and Wheeler both act older than their nine years, but this story is so fun, who cares?
Comments
Although an organ wasn't the instrument of choice, Zoe still has a musical experience, a trophy for
competition, and in the end her dream of a piano is granted along with the celebration of having her workaholic
mom and fearful dad come together to hear her perform. The power of music!
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