Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

2024 Challenge Sign-Up Post

January Reviews Link-Up

February Reviews Link-Up

March Reviews Link-Up

April Reviews Link-Up

May Reviews Link-Up

June Reviews Link-Up

July Reviews Link-Up

August Reviews Link-Up

September Reviews Link-Up

October Reviews Link-Up

November Reviews Link-Up

December Reviews Link-Up

My Progress:


9 / 30 books. 30% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


12 / 51 states. 24% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


10 / 50 words. 20% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


15 / 50 books. 30% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 52 books. 52% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 40 books. 53% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


13 / 40 books. 33% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


5 / 25 books. 20% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


17 / 26.2 miles. 65% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


15 / 100 books. 15% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


34 / 104 books. 33% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


31 / 52 books. 60% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


32 / 165 books. 19% done!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Quirky Novel Proves Perfection's Not All Its Cracked Up to Be

If you can't tell from the cover, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban is a quirky little

novel. In fact, at times, the story becomes downright odd. At least that's the impression I got when I read it the other morning between 2 and 4 a.m. while rocking a fussy baby. Sleep deprivation has left my mind in a fog, so I could be misjudging the book - maybe it's a perfectly normal story and it's just my exhausted mind that's odd. ANYWAY ...

This children's book (I think it would be considered middle-grade fiction?) stars 10-year-old Zoe Elias, a girl who dreams of performing at Carnegie Hall. In her dreams, she's a piano-playing prodigy studying under a "sweet, rumpled old man" (20) she calls Maestro. Elegantly coifed, she breezes through pieces by Beethoven and Mozart, earning herself dozens of admirers. Zoe's reality isn't quite so grand. Instead of a shiny baby grand, she plays a "wood-grained, vinyl-seated, wheeze-bag" (3) organ. Instead of a dignified gentleman teaching her the classics, she's stuck with Mabelline Person, who sips ginger ale while plunking out tunes from the Hits of the Seventies songbook. In Zoe's dreams, her mother buys her fancy gowns and piles her hair into sophisticated 'dos; in real life, she's too busy with work to pay much attention. Her father supports her ambitions, but his fear of crowds, change, and just about everything else, makes him a less-than-perfect talent manager.

Undeterred, Zoe decides to take on the Perform-O-Rama organ competition. While she readies Neil Diamond's Forever in Blue Jeans, she tries to quell her growing anxiety. All the practice, the sour notes and the fear are getting to her - she has to play the song perfectly, and it's just not happening. She wants to pour her heart out to her dad, but he's too focused on cooking up a storm for his Rollin' in Dough: Earn a Dolla' Baking Challah self-improvement course. To make matters worse, she can't even cry on his shoulder, because her friend Wheeler's having too much fun baking with her dad to ever leave. When Zoe hears an interview with a successful young musician, she decides that maybe she can endure her lessons after all. In fact, she vows to practice harder so one day she, too, will be interviewed on the radio. It's the perfect plan. But, as the Perform-O-Rama edges closer, her carefully-laid plans start to unravel fast - her mother has to work on performance day, leaving her in the hands of her father, who's terrified to leave the house. Can Zoe make it to the competition, let alone Carnegie Hall? What will become of all her perfect dreams?

Zoe may be a little odd, but readers will have no trouble identifying with her. She represents all of us in our yearning for enviable, picture-perfect lives. Like the rest of us, she learns that perfection isn't all it's cracked up to be and when we try our very best, we can find our own brand of perfect. Even if it's the crooked kind.

Grade: B


4 comments:

  1. I loved this one! Hope you get some sleep!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved this one. This one was one of my favorite favorite books of 2007

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for reading the book. I'm glad you liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Quirky is fine. This sounds like a nice kind of read for my daughter, who is a good reader, but not ready for the more mature (and oftentimes disturbing) stuff that passes as young adult lit these days.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.

P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
End of Story by A.J. Finn

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
My Contrary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive



2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Susan has read 0 books toward her goal of 200 books.
hide

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction