Real Characters

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban could be any other story about a sixth grade girl whose family isn't perfect and who doesn't quite fit in at school and yet it's so much more. What sets it apart? I think it's characterization. Zoe's oddball dad and hard working mother are presented in a loving and exasperated way that makes them extremely real characters. They don't seem to have quirks because the author thinks that will make them more memorable but because that's who they are. So, who are they?

Well, Zoe is a girl who really wants to play the piano. Unfortunately for her, her dad gets overwhelmed when he goes to the mall to buy the piano and ends up with an organ. But Zoe is a kid who knows how to make the best of things and so she starts taking organ lessons and ends up competing in an organ competition. Along the way she loses her best friend and makes a new friend who comes home after school to bake with her dad.

Her dad is the kind of guy who doesn't like to leave the house because he might get lost. Her mom is careful and detail oriented.

A great first novel.