A Crooked Kind of Perfect

Eleven-year-old Zoe is a master at making the most of her situation when Dad buys her an organ rather than the piano she envisioned for her Carnegie Hall performance. A cast of quirky and well developed characters come alive with an engaging and heart-warming story. (family, friend and school issues too) ( )

I haven't heard a lot of buzz yet about Newbery contenders, but I'd say this is one of them. It's another quiet story with all the action being character development, without a lot of outside plot to muck it up. It's ostensibly a middle-grade novel, with a protagonist who is 10 years old (going on 11), but the book's appeal will be more for older teens or adults--readers who remember being that age, rather than readers who are that age.

That said, as an adult, this is a very good story--a girl coming to terms with her workaholic mother and agoraphobic father, the best friend who doesn't want to be best friends anymore, the new friend who doesn't really register as a friend for a while. She wants to be a piano prodigy, but instead of a piano she's saddled with an organ. And she overcomes these odds to a very realistic conclusion. ( )

the detail and the feelings Zoe had made me live through the story book with Zoe and the rest. ( )

"A Crooked Kind of Perfect", follows the story of a little girl named Zoe who refuses to accept anything that could be described by the title. She is disappointed by anything in her life that doesn't fit her definition of perfect. Zoe is an aspiring pianist and she has dreams of being a "prodigy" and playing at Carnegie Hall but is dissatisfied with her piano lessons and learning outdated theme songs. Zoe is also dissatisfied by her less than perfect family. Her mom works a lot and her father is agoraphobic. She makes an unlikely friend named Wheeler who helps her realize that her family is great just the way it is. I did not particularly enjoy this book just because I could not identify with the main character at all as an adult. She lives a safe and happy life with two parents who are still married, alive and love her very much. Despite all of this, she does nothing but complain about what she wants and doesn't have. This infuriated me while I was reading the book so it was hard to enjoy. There are thousands of children that die every day of starvation so I can't really sympathize for the ten year old that doesn't know what real pain is. I guess this was part of what makes the book though, Zoe's realization that her life is actually pretty much perfect. The title also made me think a bit about what perfect is, and it's subjective. What is perfect to me may be all kinds of wrong to somebody with a different perspective. ( )

The story follows one girl as she directs herself through middle school, family, and learning how to play the organ. Story goes on like a diary almost but like a diary a good portion of what others read, no one will care about. ( )