Ten-year-old Zoe Elias dreams of playing the piano at Carnegie Hall but she needs a piano. Her wellmeaning parents give her an organ...with rhythm switches. Zoe endures lessons from a ginger aleswilling organ instructor as she prepares to compete at the Perform-O-Rama. A Crooked Kind of Perfect (ages 9-12, $16.00 ), by Montpelier author Linda Urban, is very funny and will introduce young readers to those wonderful and awful songs of the 1970's.

An irresistible debut novel, full of warmth and sass, now in paperback

Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience's applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she'll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall.

           

But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe's dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn't the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn't the only part of Zoe's life that's off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day.

           

Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises--and that perfection may be even better when it's just a little off center.

LINDA URBAN, the former marketing director at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California, now writes children's books full-time. A Crooked Kind of Perfect is her first novel. She lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

Imprint: Harcourt Children's Books
Distributor: Harcourt Trade Publishers
Publication Date: 09-01-2007
Pages: 224
Measurements: 7.50in X 5.00in