A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT
By Linda Urban
Harcourt, September 2007
Category: Middle-grade fiction
I must admit at the outset that it is hard for me to separate the fabulous-ness of this book from the fabulous-ness of its author…
I sat in on a workshop that Linda Urban gave at the 2006 New England SCBWI Conference, Creating Great Bookstore Events, and was struck with her sincerity, her straightforward manner, and her sense of humor. A year later, at the 2007 Conference, I spent an evening eating and talking shop with Linda (and several equally fabulous local writers). Sincere. Straightforward. Funny. My first impressions of Linda were borne out.
And now that I have read Linda’s debut novel for young readers (Thank you Cynthia Lord!), I am not at all surprised to report that it is also sincere, straightforward, and very funny.
Zoe Elias is a little girl with big dreams … piano-prodigy-playing-Carnegie-Hall-in-a-diamond-tiara dreams. And she is pretty sure that the only things holding her back are her wheezebag organ (so NOT a piano), her agoraphobic Dad, and her workaholic Mom. I loved the snappy format and the clever way the chapter titles and text worked together*. I loved how recurring elements crept up on me and, well, punched me in the stomach**. I loved how the book made me look at the perfectly crooked parts of my life and smile***.
Hooray for you, Linda!
* Reluctant readers will love this, too.
** Writing teachers will love this, too.
*** Who won’t love this?