Skip to main content

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

By

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?
Labels:

Comments

Carla Morris said…
I really enjoyed this book as well.
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!
cm
March 7, 2008 at 8:41 AM
curlyq said…
A very fun and entertaining read! I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the support network some of them form.
March 29, 2008 at 9:31 AM
2112 said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
April 9, 2008 at 10:10 AM
2112 said…
I loved the characters of this book. I loved how her dad was willing to try and taker her places despite his fears. (I especially loved how they always called a towtruck driver to give them directions back home). I also loved Wheeler's character and how it showed why we shouldn't judge people (especially kids) by how they act or dress, you never know what their home life is like.
April 9, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Finding Lost

By
Finding Lost By Holly Goldberg Sloan New York: Rocky Pond Books, 2025. Fiction. 208 pages. Middle schooler Cordy, along with her mom and little brother, Geno, are still learning how to adjust to their life after “The Accident,” a tragic boating accident that cost their father’s life. When Cordy is walking home from school one day, she finds a little stray dog who the family nicknames Lost, and as he joins their family, he helps them rediscover all of the beauty that life has to offer. Holly Goldberg Sloane delivers a heart-warming and poignant novel about loss, family, and perseverance. This was a well-written novel that could appeal to a wide range of readers. Any middle schooler will be able to relate to Cordy’s experience of dealing with change, and those who have experienced a similar loss will be sure to find solace in this beautiful story.
Post a Comment
Read more