Bibliographical information:

Urban, Linda. A Crooked Kind of Perfect. New York: Harcourt, 2007

Brief summary:

Zoe Elias, daughter of a workaholic mother and a father with some kind of social anxiety disorder, wants to play the piano. Her father returns from a shopping expedition with a Perfectone D-60 electric organ instead. The novel traces her musical adventures and their effects on her family life and her friendships.

Comments:

The novel preserves a delicate balance. Zoe's voice is wry and funny, as she describes her preadolescent social life, the Perfectone D-60 organ, and the Perform-O-Rama. Descriptions of her father's disabilty are funny in a gentler way. Zoe approaches her father's limitations with sensitivity and acceptance--he's her dad, and this is her life. Yet she dreams big, imagining herself giving concerts at Carnegie Hall even as she's learning to play the organ from a book featuring television theme songs.

Grade/Age level:

Grades 4-8

Cautions:

If you like this book, you might also like . . .

--Lisa Gordis

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