A Crooked Kind of Perfect (Hardcover)

by Linda Urban (Author)
Key Phrases: bum bum bum bum, competition packet, paper keyboard, Miss Person, Wheeler Diggs, Colton Shell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 4–6—An impressive and poignant debut novel. Eleven-year-old Zoe dreams of giving piano recitals at Carnegie Hall. When her father purchases a Perfectone D-60, though, she must settle for the sounds of the organ rather than the distinguished sounds of a baby grand. Her organ teacher, Mabelline Person, notices the child's small talent for music and recommends her for the "Perfectone Perform-O-Rama"; she will play Neil Diamond's "Forever in Blue Jeans." Accepting this new twist to her ambitions, Zoe must depend on a quirky support system: her father, who gets anxious when he leaves the house and who earns diplomas from Living Room University; her workaholic mother; and her classmate Wheeler, who follows Zoe home from school daily to spend time with her father, baking. Playing television theme songs from the '60s and '70s rather than Bach doesn't get Zoe down. Instead, aware of the stark difference between her dream and her reality, she forges ahead and, as an underdog, faces the uncertainty of entering the competition. In the end, resilient and resourceful Zoe finds perfection in the most imperfect and unique situations, and she shines. The refreshing writing is full of pearls of wisdom, and readers will relate to this fully developed character. The sensitive story is filled with hope and humor. It has a feel-good quality and a subtle message about how doing one's best and believing in oneself are what really matter.—Jennifer Cogan, Bucks County Free Library, Doylestown, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"What a generous spirit behind this book: one that celebrates the crooked quirks of its characters. I love Zoe's parents and her friend Wheeler, but most especially I love Zoe. She's perfect, in the most deliciously crooked kind of way."--Sharon Creech, Newbery Medal-winning author of Walk Two Moons

"An impressive and poignant debut novel . . . filled with hope and humor."--School Library Journal

"Immediately engaging . . . Zoe’s world is drawn with sometimes painful precision, her emotions are revealed with empathy, and her story unfolds realistically, without the miracles she hopes for, but with small, sometimes surprising changes . . . sometimes funny, sometimes tender, this is a promising debut."--Booklist

"Short, funny chapters full of exaggeration and exasperation provide lots of laughs . . . Readers with their own dreams, weird obsessions, and quirky hobbies will be heartened by the message that a few bumps, compromises, and sour notes along the way can pay off in a major key."--The Bulletin

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details Reading level: Ages 9-12 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (September 1, 2007) Language: English ISBN-10: 0152060073 ISBN-13: 978-0152060077 Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,958 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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bum bum bum bum, competition packet, paper keyboard

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Miss Person, Wheeler Diggs, Colton Shell, Emma Dent, Carnegie Hall, Mabelline Person, Blue Jeans, Rock Beat, Zsa Zsa, Meeting Room, Living Room University, Vladimir Horowitz, Lester Rennet, Lily Parker, Joella Tinstella, Green Acres, Zoe Elias, East Eastside, Fireside Scout, Andy Markowitz, Patty Cake, Monkey Waltz, Sally Marvin, Dream of Jeannie, Birch Valley Mall

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews 5 star:  (18) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.9 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 18 of 19 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing crooked about it, August 21, 2007 By  E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    Humor is just so hard in children's books. You either crash too hard on the adult side of the equation (see: The Manny Files) or you end up going too far the other direction and end up ridiculously scatological (see: Out of Patience). The balance has to be perfect and, if you want your book to be memorable, also work in some real emotion, heart, and (God help us all) learning. Because this mix is so difficult, you rarely end up with a book quite as pleasant as Linda Urban's "A Crooked Kind of Perfect". First of all, it wins the 2007 Most Appropriate Title Award. Second, it has a firm grasp on hitting just the right tone. In a relatively blah year of realistic girl fiction, Urban's book is a cut above the rest. Zoe has dreams you know. Dreams of owning a gorgeous piano, all shiny and black. Of performing before vast adoring audiences. Of being a prodigy and admired by people like her classically inclined mother. So what does she get instead? An organ. A Perfectone D-60 if you want to be precise. And it's not as if her school life is much of an improvement either. Her former best friend Emma Dent has informed her that Joella Tinstella is now her best friend right now, and to top it all off that bully Wheeler Diggs has somehow managed to ingratiate himself into her family. So when Zoe enters the Perform-O-Rama competition for organs she doesn't expect much. Fortunately for her, she finds that people can surprise you when you least expect them to. Sometimes for the bad, but also sometimes for the good. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that we haven't come up with a name for children's novels with short short chapters. You know the kind I mean. They look like verse novels at first, but a quick perusal shows that the author hasn't broken up the action into strategically separated tiny sentences. I think the author chose this method because she prefers to keep things sharp and sweet. Her storyline works best when she can leap from thought to memory to current event. Some parents like to pooh-pooh those children's books that eschew length for sure-footed pacing. I'll admit right here and now that due to its format "A Crooked Kind of Perfect" really does make for an enjoyably quick book. You might want to consider handing it to those kids who like to read but are turned off by long wordy novels. Plus it's funny. I could give you five hundred examples from this book. I could also give you just one reason and leave it at that. One Reason: There is a chapter about the Fireside Scouts entitled, "I Don't Need No Stinking Badges". Oh, how about two? There's an organ teacher who swears by saying things like, "Handel's Cousin Hannah". One more, one more. When a girl at the organ competition plays "Getting' Jiggy Wit It" you STILL have overly competitive parents saying things like "I'd hardly call that jiggy" and "That girl could never have handled the original composition." Last one, I swear. When Zoe is given all the different Perfectone D-60 songbooks, she sees they all have names like "Hits of the Sixties" and "Hits of the Nineties". Naturally she wonders why there aren't any "Hits of the Eighties". She is informed that there weren't any. Fine. That's more than just one reason. In fact, I had to actively not mention some of the other moments in this book that are amusing in and of themselves and, when taken as a whole, add up to one heckuva funny middle grade novel. You should be proud of me. Urban makes some interesting choices in this book. Zoe's father is never out-and-out diagnosed as OCD or anything along those lines. You know he's seriously uncomfortable around people he doesn't know. That he fears leaving the house. That he can't deal with a lot of things that other parents could. There's a moment, of course, when it mentions that Zoe and her family are watching, "the detective on TV get all weirded out about being in a crowded elevator." Those of you familiar with Monk might see how it applies to Zoe's family. Few kids will, though. I'm fond of books that don't go about slapping labels on every neurosis and character quirk you find. Zoe's dad is just her dad. He has problems with people and crowds and shopping and traveling out of the house, but he's also a really good father. The book makes that much perfectly clear. FYI: You know you're old when you run across the main character in a children's book complaining that the songs she can play on her organ existed before she was born. Songs like "Seasons in the Sun" (fine), "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp-Bomp-Bomp)" (fine), and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (SOB!). If the book has a problem it probably concerns the lack of dramatic tension. For example, one day Wheeler's mildly pissed about something and yet the next time Zoe sees him she says, "I thought you might not come back here ever." It's a rather extreme sentence considering the two of them never ever really fight. There is some tension regarding Zoe's parents and their presence in her life, so that may make up for the lack of problems elsewhere in the book. Yet as a former resident of Southwestern Michigan, I'd have enjoyed a little more clarification as to the location of this book. The competition is in somewhere called Birch Valley? Aw, make it Kalamazoo. You could totally have a competition there. Tiny nibbles of complaints aside, it's a swell read. Characters are crystal clear and their motivations make perfect sense. Urban wields the infinitely difficult first person narrative with aplomb. And, all that aside, it's about a kid who plays the organ. That's just a good high-concept idea right there. One of the more pleasant first-time novelist surprises of the year. 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent title for third to sixth graders, highly recommended, October 27, 2007 By  Jennifer Robinson "Editor of Jen Robinson's B... (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This is a book about taking joy in the special things about yourself and your family, even if they aren't conventionally perfect. Zoe Elias is in fifth grade. She has a workaholic mother (a state Controller) and a father who has difficulty coping with the world outside of his home. Zoe returns to school after the summer and finds that her best friend has abandoned her for someone cooler, and become consumed by lip gloss, CDs, and trendy clothes. What Zoe wants is to grow up to be a famous pianist, and play at Carnegie Hall. She dreams of elegant black concert pianos and hushed silences. Her reality, however, is somewhat different from her expectations (and involves a flamboyant organ). There is much to like about this book. The writing is deceptively simple, with short paragraphs, and plenty of white space. At one point there is a chapter that only has one six-word sentence on the page. This is not a book that would intimidate an eight year old. And yet, Linda Urban manages to pack multiple levels of meaning into every sentence. She is a master of show, don't tell, and of presenting fully realized, three-dimensional characters. Her word selection is so perfect that the book almost feels like a verse novel (though it clearly isn't). Here is an example: The senior center had one piano, and it was not grand. It was an almost-upright. It leaned to one side. I guessed it had been donated by a school because there were initials carved into its legs, and if you lifted the yellow scarf off the top, you could read all about a Mrs. Pushkin who smelled like fish. The bench was bowed from years of supporting senior citizen backsides. (Page 10) I love: "It was an almost-upright". Here is another example that shows the short, poetic paragraphs: "When the balcony people first get to Carnegie Hall, they can't see the stage. All they see is a huge velvet curtain with gold fringe and tassels. The lights dim. The curtain rises. And there is a glossy black grand piano. Nobody says a word. They don't even breathe. They wait. They wait." (Page 150) That refrain of "They wait. They wait." is repeated several times throughout the book. I think it speaks to Zoe's deeper longing concerning being a concert pianist, someone to whom people give undivided attention, and for whom people are willing to wait. Zoe's mother is a very busy woman. One last quote: "Me and Mom shake our heads (when friends leave to go the restroom). We have really strong bladders. It is one thing we have in common." (Page 185). I like this quote because the author is doing so much in a small space. "Me and Mom" gives you a fifth grade voice, doesn't it? It's not "Mom and I", it's "Me and Mom." As it should be. And then "it is one thing we have in common." When I first read this I read it in my head as "it is the one thing we have in common." Zoe and her Mom are very different, but Zoe is pretty matter-of-fact about it. Zoe is also matter-of-fact about her father's shortcomings. Zoe's Dad clearly has some sort of clinical mental condition, by which can't handle driving, or being in a room with a lot of people, or seeing bright lights. He doesn't work - he stays home and does unusual home-based courses like "Make Friends and Profit While Scrapbooking". Zoe's activities are restricted because he can't drive her places. She worries about him sometimes, but she accepts his limitations, without being ashamed of him, or angry with him, because he is who he is. And he has his strengths as a father, too, of course. This is an excellent book to give to a kids in the third to sixth grades. It's a relatively easy read, but with a lot of hidden depth that I think the kids on the middle school end (and higher) will be more able to appreciate. For example, there is a painful scene in which Zoe attends a party where she brings the wrong gift and wears the wrong clothes. This will resonate with any reader who has ever had such an experience. (And who hasn't?) Although A Crooked Kind of Perfect touches on like liking between boys and girls, Zoe's experience is at the very earliest stage of that, in which there's no question of much more than a jumpy feeling in your stomach. And although the narrator of the story is a girl, I think that boys will enjoy this book, too. A boy named Wheeler is a major character (though we can't directly know what he's thinking), and issues with quirky parents transcend gender. Plus there are several scenes involving burping, which are sure crowd-pleasers. I think that this is a book that will receive some serious consideration from the Newbery committee. It's beautifully written, but also quirky and funny and full of heart. I think that kids will enjoy the story, and will laugh out loud at the funny parts (Zoe goofing around with her Dad, and the ironic contrast between her dreams and her reality). I also think that kids who are right at that transitional age between childhood and adolescence will be able to see themselves in Zoe and Wheeler, and will find this validating. I couldn't recommend it more highly. This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on October 27, 2007. 8 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Perfect if you ask me!, August 11, 2007 By  Lisa Schroeder - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Once in awhile, a book comes along that grabs your heart from the beginning and doesn't let go, even long after the last page has been turned. A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT, by Linda Urban, is one of those special, rare books. It's a book about dreams, about family and friends, about music, and about making the most of what you've got. The voice, the characters, the story - I loved it all. When I was done reading, I e-mailed the author and told her I would be heart-broken if this book doesn't win a bunch of awards. It really is that special. I know a couple of girls who will be getting a copy of this book for their birthday in the next couple of months. I can't wait to share Zoe's story with them.		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A Crooked Kind of Perfect This book Is awesome for preteen girls. It shows a realistic fiction story of a girl in a couple sticky situations. Read more Published 1 month ago 5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious kids' novel This novel starts quietly but builds to absolute hilarity - by the end I was laughing out loud and cheering for the heroine and her whole family and circle. Read more Published 1 month ago by Stephanie Samphire 5.0 out of 5 stars A Crooked Kind of Perfect The book arrived in perfect condition and quicker than the standard delivery time predicted. Great turn around time! Published 4 months ago by Reviewer 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book My 10 year old loved this book and it is a great one to read if your kid needs to do a book report. We will be reading more from this author! Published 5 months ago by Lucy Crabtree 5.0 out of 5 stars Payton from Lake Tapps says, ''This is a wonderful book." Goober "no" zas zas a grand piano "no" a perfection D- 60 organ "no, no, no!" A Crooked Kind of Perfect will set you with the sillies! Read more Published 7 months ago 5.0 out of 5 stars Wise, witty and utterly realistic When 10-year-old Zoe Elias sees a documentary about the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, she is instantly hooked. Read more Published 10 months ago by Kidsreads.com 4.0 out of 5 stars Perfection is Always Crooked A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a testament to normal families everywhere. Every child has dreams of fame and Zoe Elias is pretty much perfect in that regard. Read more Published 12 months ago by C. Dutra 5.0 out of 5 stars Let me give it to you straight, it's PERFECT. I think this would make a wonderful book club book. Zoe has the unique situation of having her dad buy her an organ when she actually wants a piano. Read more Published 12 months ago by Matthew A. Wigdahl 5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book The fictional book, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Lisa Urban is a wonderful and inspiring book that shows the importance of following a dream. Read more Published 16 months ago by K. Mantych 5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly Sweet, Highly Recommended Ten-year-old Zoe dreams of performing at Carnegie Hall one day. She thinks pianos are glamorous, sophisticated, and worldly. Read more Published 17 months ago by Little Willow Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152060073
• ISBN-13: 978-0152060077
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,958 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing crooked about it, August 21, 2007

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Humor is just so hard in children's books. You either crash too hard on the adult side of the equation (see: The Manny Files) or you end up going too far the other direction and end up ridiculously scatological (see: Out of Patience). The balance has to be perfect and, if you want your book to be memorable, also work in some real emotion, heart, and (God help us all) learning. Because this mix is so difficult, you rarely end up with a book quite as pleasant as Linda Urban's "A Crooked Kind of Perfect". First of all, it wins the 2007 Most Appropriate Title Award. Second, it has a firm grasp on hitting just the right tone. In a relatively blah year of realistic girl fiction, Urban's book is a cut above the rest.

Zoe has dreams you know. Dreams of owning a gorgeous piano, all shiny and black. Of performing before vast adoring audiences. Of being a prodigy and admired by people like her classically inclined mother. So what does she get instead? An organ. A Perfectone D-60 if you want to be precise. And it's not as if her school life is much of an improvement either. Her former best friend Emma Dent has informed her that Joella Tinstella is now her best friend right now, and to top it all off that bully Wheeler Diggs has somehow managed to ingratiate himself into her family. So when Zoe enters the Perform-O-Rama competition for organs she doesn't expect much. Fortunately for her, she finds that people can surprise you when you least expect them to. Sometimes for the bad, but also sometimes for the good.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that we haven't come up with a name for children's novels with short short chapters. You know the kind I mean. They look like verse novels at first, but a quick perusal shows that the author hasn't broken up the action into strategically separated tiny sentences. I think the author chose this method because she prefers to keep things sharp and sweet. Her storyline works best when she can leap from thought to memory to current event. Some parents like to pooh-pooh those children's books that eschew length for sure-footed pacing. I'll admit right here and now that due to its format "A Crooked Kind of Perfect" really does make for an enjoyably quick book. You might want to consider handing it to those kids who like to read but are turned off by long wordy novels.

Plus it's funny. I could give you five hundred examples from this book. I could also give you just one reason and leave it at that. One Reason: There is a chapter about the Fireside Scouts entitled, "I Don't Need No Stinking Badges". Oh, how about two? There's an organ teacher who swears by saying things like, "Handel's Cousin Hannah". One more, one more. When a girl at the organ competition plays "Getting' Jiggy Wit It" you STILL have overly competitive parents saying things like "I'd hardly call that jiggy" and "That girl could never have handled the original composition." Last one, I swear. When Zoe is given all the different Perfectone D-60 songbooks, she sees they all have names like "Hits of the Sixties" and "Hits of the Nineties". Naturally she wonders why there aren't any "Hits of the Eighties". She is informed that there weren't any. Fine. That's more than just one reason. In fact, I had to actively not mention some of the other moments in this book that are amusing in and of themselves and, when taken as a whole, add up to one heckuva funny middle grade novel. You should be proud of me.

Urban makes some interesting choices in this book. Zoe's father is never out-and-out diagnosed as OCD or anything along those lines. You know he's seriously uncomfortable around people he doesn't know. That he fears leaving the house. That he can't deal with a lot of things that other parents could. There's a moment, of course, when it mentions that Zoe and her family are watching, "the detective on TV get all weirded out about being in a crowded elevator." Those of you familiar with Monk might see how it applies to Zoe's family. Few kids will, though. I'm fond of books that don't go about slapping labels on every neurosis and character quirk you find. Zoe's dad is just her dad. He has problems with people and crowds and shopping and traveling out of the house, but he's also a really good father. The book makes that much perfectly clear.

FYI: You know you're old when you run across the main character in a children's book complaining that the songs she can play on her organ existed before she was born. Songs like "Seasons in the Sun" (fine), "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp-Bomp-Bomp)" (fine), and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (SOB!).

If the book has a problem it probably concerns the lack of dramatic tension. For example, one day Wheeler's mildly pissed about something and yet the next time Zoe sees him she says, "I thought you might not come back here ever." It's a rather extreme sentence considering the two of them never ever really fight. There is some tension regarding Zoe's parents and their presence in her life, so that may make up for the lack of problems elsewhere in the book. Yet as a former resident of Southwestern Michigan, I'd have enjoyed a little more clarification as to the location of this book. The competition is in somewhere called Birch Valley? Aw, make it Kalamazoo. You could totally have a competition there.

Tiny nibbles of complaints aside, it's a swell read. Characters are crystal clear and their motivations make perfect sense. Urban wields the infinitely difficult first person narrative with aplomb. And, all that aside, it's about a kid who plays the organ. That's just a good high-concept idea right there. One of the more pleasant first-time novelist surprises of the year.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent title for third to sixth graders, highly recommended, October 27, 2007

By	Jennifer Robinson "Editor of Jen Robinson's B... (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book about taking joy in the special things about yourself and your family, even if they aren't conventionally perfect. Zoe Elias is in fifth grade. She has a workaholic mother (a state Controller) and a father who has difficulty coping with the world outside of his home. Zoe returns to school after the summer and finds that her best friend has abandoned her for someone cooler, and become consumed by lip gloss, CDs, and trendy clothes. What Zoe wants is to grow up to be a famous pianist, and play at Carnegie Hall. She dreams of elegant black concert pianos and hushed silences. Her reality, however, is somewhat different from her expectations (and involves a flamboyant organ).

There is much to like about this book. The writing is deceptively simple, with short paragraphs, and plenty of white space. At one point there is a chapter that only has one six-word sentence on the page. This is not a book that would intimidate an eight year old. And yet, Linda Urban manages to pack multiple levels of meaning into every sentence. She is a master of show, don't tell, and of presenting fully realized, three-dimensional characters. Her word selection is so perfect that the book almost feels like a verse novel (though it clearly isn't). Here is an example:

The senior center had one piano, and it was not grand. It was an almost-upright. It leaned to one side. I guessed it had been donated by a school because there were initials carved into its legs, and if you lifted the yellow scarf off the top, you could read all about a Mrs. Pushkin who smelled like fish. The bench was bowed from years of supporting senior citizen backsides. (Page 10)

I love: "It was an almost-upright". Here is another example that shows the short, poetic paragraphs:

"When the balcony people first get to Carnegie Hall, they can't see the stage. All they see is a huge velvet curtain with gold fringe and tassels.
The lights dim.
The curtain rises.
And there is a glossy black grand piano.
Nobody says a word.
They don't even breathe.
They wait.
They wait." (Page 150)

That refrain of "They wait. They wait." is repeated several times throughout the book. I think it speaks to Zoe's deeper longing concerning being a concert pianist, someone to whom people give undivided attention, and for whom people are willing to wait. Zoe's mother is a very busy woman.

One last quote:

"Me and Mom shake our heads (when friends leave to go the restroom). We have really strong bladders. It is one thing we have in common." (Page 185).

I like this quote because the author is doing so much in a small space. "Me and Mom" gives you a fifth grade voice, doesn't it? It's not "Mom and I", it's "Me and Mom." As it should be. And then "it is one thing we have in common." When I first read this I read it in my head as "it is the one thing we have in common." Zoe and her Mom are very different, but Zoe is pretty matter-of-fact about it.

Zoe is also matter-of-fact about her father's shortcomings. Zoe's Dad clearly has some sort of clinical mental condition, by which can't handle driving, or being in a room with a lot of people, or seeing bright lights. He doesn't work - he stays home and does unusual home-based courses like "Make Friends and Profit While Scrapbooking". Zoe's activities are restricted because he can't drive her places. She worries about him sometimes, but she accepts his limitations, without being ashamed of him, or angry with him, because he is who he is. And he has his strengths as a father, too, of course.

This is an excellent book to give to a kids in the third to sixth grades. It's a relatively easy read, but with a lot of hidden depth that I think the kids on the middle school end (and higher) will be more able to appreciate. For example, there is a painful scene in which Zoe attends a party where she brings the wrong gift and wears the wrong clothes. This will resonate with any reader who has ever had such an experience. (And who hasn't?)

Although A Crooked Kind of Perfect touches on like liking between boys and girls, Zoe's experience is at the very earliest stage of that, in which there's no question of much more than a jumpy feeling in your stomach. And although the narrator of the story is a girl, I think that boys will enjoy this book, too. A boy named Wheeler is a major character (though we can't directly know what he's thinking), and issues with quirky parents transcend gender. Plus there are several scenes involving burping, which are sure crowd-pleasers.

I think that this is a book that will receive some serious consideration from the Newbery committee. It's beautifully written, but also quirky and funny and full of heart. I think that kids will enjoy the story, and will laugh out loud at the funny parts (Zoe goofing around with her Dad, and the ironic contrast between her dreams and her reality). I also think that kids who are right at that transitional age between childhood and adolescence will be able to see themselves in Zoe and Wheeler, and will find this validating. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on October 27, 2007.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Perfect if you ask me!, August 11, 2007

By	Lisa Schroeder - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once in awhile, a book comes along that grabs your heart from the beginning and doesn't let go, even long after the last page has been turned.

A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT, by Linda Urban, is one of those special, rare books.

It's a book about dreams, about family and friends, about music, and about making the most of what you've got.

The voice, the characters, the story - I loved it all. When I was done reading, I e-mailed the author and told her I would be heart-broken if this book doesn't win a bunch of awards. It really is that special.

I know a couple of girls who will be getting a copy of this book for their birthday in the next couple of months. I can't wait to share Zoe's story with them.