Crooked Kind of Perfect

Description: Sure that she'll be on her way to Carnegie Hall if only she cold have a baby grand, 10-year-old Zoe Elias's dreams hit a sour note when her dad gives her an organ instead.

Brief description: Linda Urban's debut novel, A Crooked Kind of Perfect, was selected for many best books lists and was nominated for twenty state awards. She is also the author of Hound Dog True, The Center of Everything, Milo Speck, Accidental Agent, and the chapter book Weekends with Max and His Dad, which received two starred reviews. A former bookseller, she lives in Vermont. Visit Linda online at lindaurbanbooks.com and on Twitter at @lindaurbanbooks.

Review Quotes:

"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