When you play the piano, you have to get the heart right. Which is harder than getting the notes right. Each note can only be right in one way. A B-flat is a B-flat is a B-flat. A robot can get a B-flat right.
But getting the heart right is something only a person can do. And the ways to do it are as many and as different as there are people in the world.
The Books
Right now, it is just the book (singular) but more are in the works, including a picture book called Mouse Was Mad that is forthcoming from Harcourt in 2009 and will be illustrated by Henry Cole.
So, then, The Book:
Here’s what it says on the jacket flap:
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.
And here’s the early buzz on the book:
12.06: A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT has been named a Junior Library Guild selection.
And here's a larger image of the cover.
What do you think? Drop me a line and let me know, won’t you? Oh, and let me know if I can quote you on this page.