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| a crooked kind of perfect: A Crooked Kind of Perfect Linda Urban, 2009-04-06 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 in Michigan 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. This ebook includes a sample chapter of Hound Dog True. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Hound Dog True Linda Urban, 2011 The author of the acclaimed A Crooked Kind of Perfect comes the story of a fifth-grade girl who begins to see how one small, brave act can lead to a friend who is hound dog true. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Mouse was Mad Linda Urban, 2009 Who knows the best way to be mad? Bear stomps. Hare hops. Bobcat screams. Mouse? He just can't get it right. But when he finds the way that works for him--still and quiet--he discovers that his own way might be the best of all. Linda Urban's story about self-expression is both sweet and sly, and Henry Cole's cast of animal friends is simply irresistible. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: The Center of Everything Linda Urban, 2013-03-05 Spring 2013 Kids' Indie Next List For Ruby Pepperdine, the “center of everything” is on the rooftop of Pepperdine Motors in her donut-obsessed town of Bunning, New Hampshire, stargazing from the circle of her grandmother Gigi’s hug. That’s how everything is supposed to be—until Ruby messes up and things spin out of control. But she has one last hope. It all depends on what happens on Bunning Day, when the entire town will hear Ruby read her winning essay. And it depends on her twelfth birthday wish—unless she messes that up too. Can Ruby’s wish set everything straight in her topsy-turvy world? |
| a crooked kind of perfect: A Crooked Tree Una Mannion, 2021-01-05 This “meticulously plotted” novel explores “the mysteries of dysfunctional families . . . and adolescents’ imperfect . . . understanding of the world of adults” (Sarah Lyall The New York Times Book Review). “The night we left Ellen on the road, we drove up the mountain in silence.” It is the early 1980s and fifteen-year-old Libby is obsessed with The Field Guide to the Trees of North America, a gift her Irish immigrant father gave her before he died. She finds solace in “The Kingdom,” a stand of red oak and thick mountain laurel near her home in suburban Pennsylvania, where she can escape from her large and unruly family and share menthol cigarettes and lukewarm beers with her best friend. One night, while driving home, Libby’s mother, exhausted and overwhelmed with the fighting in the backseat, pulls over and orders Libby’s little sister Ellen to walk home. What none of this family knows as they drive off leaving a twelve-year-old girl on the side of the road five miles from home with darkness closing in, is what will happen next. A Crooked Tree is a surprising, indelible novel, both a poignant portrayal of an unmoored childhood giving way to adolescence, and a gripping tale about the unexpected reverberations of one rash act. “Beautifully written with tenderness and wisdom.” — Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine “Suspenseful, affecting, and disarmingly evocative of childhood and the not-so-distant era of the 1980s.” —Kirkus Reviews “Filled with pathos, nostalgia, and the best kind of suspense..” — Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River “Completely entrancing.” —Julia Pierpont, New York Times–bestselling author of Among the Ten Thousand Things |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Straight Down a Crooked Lane Francena H. Arnold, 1959-06-01 A love-at-first-sight meeting between Mary Jo and Jack leads to a rash, young marriage. Reality soon hits the excited newlyweds. Yet from their despair and despondency come the desire and ability to learn how to follow God’s path instead of their own. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Finding Perfect Elly Swartz, 2016-10-18 To twelve-year-old Molly Nathans, perfect is: —The number four —The tip of a newly sharpened No. 2 pencil —A crisp white pad of paper —Her neatly aligned glass animal figurines What’s not perfect is Molly’s mother leaving the family to take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year. Molly knows that promises are sometimes broken, so she hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the Lakeville Middle School Poetry Slam Contest. The winner is honored at a fancy banquet with white tablecloths. Molly is sure her mother would never miss that. Right...? But as time passes, writing and reciting slam poetry become harder. Actually, everything becomes harder as new habits appear, and counting, cleaning, and organizing are not enough to keep Molly's world from spinning out of control. In this fresh-voiced debut novel, one girl learns there is no such thing as perfect. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Almost There and Almost Not Linda Urban, 2022-04-26 When her father goes away, eleven-year-old California Callie Poppy winds up with her eccentric Great-Aunt Monica and their ancestor, the once-famous etiquette expert Eleanor Fontaine, now a hypersensitive ghost. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Weekends with Max and His Dad Linda Urban, 2016-04-05 “Fans of Clementine and Ramona have a reason to rejoice: there’s a new kid on the block . . . Bighearted, hilarious, and tender.” —Katherine Applegate, Newbery medalist Max and his dad love their weekends together. Weekends mean pancakes, pizza, spy games, dog-walking, school projects, and surprising neighbors! Every weekend presents a small adventure as Max gets to know his dad’s new neighborhood—and learns some new ways of thinking about home. Acclaimed author Linda Urban deftly portrays a third-grader’s inner world during a time of transition in this sweet and funny illustrated story that bridges the early reader and middle-grade novel. “Urban’s subtle and perceptive take on divorce will resonate with children facing similar predicaments as she blends Max’s worries and ‘someone-sitting-on-his-chest’ feelings with a vivid imagination and good intentions that take father and son on some very entertaining adventures—with future ones planned.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Urban excels at credibly presenting this situation from Max’s third-grade point of view . . . Urban’s writing is both crisply specific (a basset hound ‘sniffed as she walked through puddles, dragging her ears like flat-bottomed boats’) and simple enough to be accessible.” —The Bulletin (starred review) “A sweet, empathetic look at a common situation.” —Kirkus Reviews “Urban’s touch is light throughout . . . a story just right for budding chapter-book readers.” —The Horn Book “The cast of characters grows throughout, but at the heart of the story is Max’s warm, easygoing relationship with his father.” —Booklist |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Creative Types Tom Bissell, 2021-12-14 From the best-selling coauthor of The Disaster Artist and “one of America's best and most interesting writers (Stephen King), a new collection of stories that range from laugh-out-loud funny to disturbingly dark—unflinching portraits of women and men struggling to bridge the gap between art and life A young and ingratiating assistant to a movie star makes a blunder that puts his boss and a major studio at grave risk. A long-married couple hires an escort for a threesome in order to rejuvenate their relationship. An assistant at a prestigious literary journal reconnects with a middle school frenemy and finds that his carefully constructed world of refinement cannot protect him from his past. A Bush administration lawyer wakes up on an abandoned airplane, trapped in a nightmare of his own making. In these and other stories, Tom Bissell vividly renders the complex worlds of characters on the brink of artistic and personal crises—writers, video-game developers, actors, and other creative types who see things slightly differently from the rest of us. With its surreal, poignant, and sometimes squirm-inducing stories, Creative Types is a brilliant new offering from one the most versatile and talented writers working in America today. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Little Red Henry Linda Urban, 2015-04-28 Well, there’s overprotective—and then there’s Little Red Henry’s family! A hilarious tale about what happens when a coddled kid asserts his independence. Little redheaded Henry’s family treats him like a baby. They dress him. They feed him. They brush his “widdle toofers.” But he’s not a baby anymore. He’s a little boy who wants to do things for himself. So with his family watching anxiously from the wings, Henry sets out on a glorious day of independence. But will things swing too far in the other direction? In this charming reworking of the classic tale of the Little Red Hen, author Linda Urban and illustrator Madeline Valentine gently and humorously depict a family trying to find a middle ground between hovering over their youngest member and giving him room to grow. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Tom Franklin, 2010-10-05 “The classic trifecta of talent, heart, and a bone-deep sense of storytelling….A masterful performance, deftly rendered and deeply satisfying. For days on end, I woke with this story on my mind.” —David Wroblewski A powerful and resonant novel from the critically acclaimed author of Smonk and Hell at the Breech, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter tells the riveting story of two boyhood friends, torn apart by circumstance, who are brought together again by a terrible crime in a small Mississippi town. An extraordinary novel that seamlessly blends elements of crime and Southern literary fiction, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a must for readers of Larry Brown, Pete Dexter, Ron Rash, and Dennis Lehane. In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas 32 Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county—and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town. More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they've buried and ignored for decades. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Crooked Austin Grossman, 2015-07-28 Award-winning novelist Austin Grossman reimagines the Cold War as an epic battle against the occult waged by the ultimate American antihero: Richard Nixon. Richard Milhous Nixon lived one of the most improbable lives of the twentieth century. Our thirty-seventh president's political career spanned the button-down fifties, the Mad Men sixties, and the turbulent seventies. He faced down the Russians, the Chinese, and ultimately his own government. The man went from political mastermind to a national joke, sobbing in the Oval Office, leaving us with one burning question: how could he have lost it all? Here for the first time is the tale told in his own words: the terrifying supernatural secret he stumbled upon as a young man, the truth behind the Cold War, and the truth behind the Watergate cover-up. What if our nation's worst president was actually a pivotal figure caught in a desperate struggle between ordinary life and horrors from another reality? What if the man we call our worst president was, in truth, our greatest? In Crooked, Nixon finally reveals the secret history of modern American politics as only Austin Grossman could reimagine it. Combining Lovecraftian suspense, international intrigue, Russian honey traps, and a presidential marriage whose secrets and battles of attrition were their own heroic saga, Grossman's novel is a masterwork of alternative history, equal parts mesmerizing character study and nail-biting Faustian thriller. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Fade Kyle Mills, 2010-04-01 New York Times bestselling author of Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp novels Kyle Mills rewrites the rules for thrillers with Fade -- a novel ripped from today's headlines Welcome to the new war on terror. A secret wing of Homeland Security is recruiting agents to work undercover in the Middle East, and the director wants his second-in-command, Matt Egan, to bring aboard an old friend, Salam Al Fayed—better known as Fade. He's perfect: An ex-Navy Seal and the son of immigrants, he speaks flawless Arabic. Trouble is, he's retired; he was wounded in the line of duty, and the government refused to pay for the risky surgery that could have helped him. Now he's walking around with a bullet lodged near his spine, and he's not too fond of anyone in the government -- least of all, his ex-best friend Matt Egan, whom he blames for his present condition. Against Egan's wishes, the director tries to persuade Fade to join the team. But Fade is prepared to fight back at any cost. The chase is on -- will Matt be able to find his friend-turned-fugitive before Fade can take the ultimate revenge? Fade is a remarkable, take-no-prisoners program from an unparalleled writer at the height of his talents. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Milo Speck, Accidental Agent Linda Urban, 2015 Milo had read about magic before. He knew that kids in stories sometimes found magic in secret drawers or hidden away in attics, and he had always hoped that if he were to find magic, it would appear in the form of a mysterious silver coin or a doorway to an enchanted world. But when magic came to Milo Speck, it came in the form of a sock. Figures, said Milo. So begins Milo's adventure through a clothes dryer into Ogregon, a land populated with hungry ogres, dino-sized turkeys, kids needing rescue, and--Milo's dad? What's his regular-old salesman father doing in Ogregon? In fact, what's Milo doing there? But the answers must wait--because the top priority for all non-ogres is escape. Well, after Milo thwarts the dastardly plot that threatens to make kids everywhere into ogre snack food. But how can a small boy in the very big world of Ogregon possibly do that? |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Under Rose-Tainted Skies Louise Gornall, 2017-01-03 A teenage girl must grapple with her agoraphobia as romance blossoms with her new neighbor in this YA novel—“a poignant work, infused with humor” (School Library Journal). Seventeen-year-old Norah Dean hasn’t left the house in years. Her agoraphobia and OCD are so intense that when groceries are left on the porch, she can’t even step out to get them. Struggling to snag the bags with a stick, she meets Luke. He’s sweet and funny, and he just caught her fishing for groceries. Because of course he did. Norah can’t leave the house, but can she let someone in? As their friendship grows deeper, Norah realizes Luke deserves a normal girl. One who can lie on the front lawn and look up at the stars. One who isn’t so screwed up. Readers themselves will fall in love with Norah in this deeply engaging portrait of a teen struggling to find the strength to face her demons. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: This Journal Belongs to Ratchet Nancy J. Cavanaugh, 2013-04-02 Move over Diary of a Wimpy Kid—there's a new journal in town and it belongs to Ratchet. A book that is full of surprises...Triumphant enough to make readers cheer; touching enough to make them cry. —Kirkus, STARRED Review If only getting a new life were as easy as getting a new notebook. But it's not. It's the first day of school for all the kids in the neighborhood. But not for me. I'm homeschooled. That means nothing new. No new book bag, no new clothes, and no new friends. The best I've got is this notebook. I'm supposed to use it for my writing assignments, but my dad never checks. Here's what I'm really going to use it for: Ratchet's Top Secret Plan Turn my old, recycled, freakish, friendless life into something shiny and new. This Florida State Book Award gold medal winner is a heartfelt story about an unconventional girl's quest to make a friend, save a park, and find her own definition of normal. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Pretty Sly Elisa Ludwig, 2014-03-18 Pretty Sly is Elisa Ludwig's heart-pounding sequel to Pretty Crooked and the second book in a trilogy perfect for fans of Sarah Mlynowski, Ally Carter, or Sara Shepard. Willa Fox was ordered to stay out of trouble by a juvenile court judge. But that was before her house was ransacked . . . and her mother went missing. Now Willa and her sexy crush, Aidan, must violate her probation and hit the California highway in search of her mom. When Willa and Aidan wind up being the focus of a national manhunt, their journey becomes dangerously criminal. Soon Willa realizes it's easier to escape the law than the truth. And everything she thought she knew about her mom—and her life—was wrong. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: We Are Party People Leslie Margolis, 2017-10-03 Leslie Margolis's We Are Party People is sweet, brave, and laugh-out-loud funny, as Pixie Jones learns that stepping out of her comfort zone might not be so scary after all. I am the opposite of a mermaid and that’s exactly the way I like it. Shy and quiet, Pixie does everything she can to fade into the background. All she wants is to survive middle school without being noticed. Meanwhile, her parents own the best party-planning business in town. They thrive on attention, love being experts in fun, and throw themselves into party personas, dressing as pirates, princes, mermaids, and more. When her mom leaves town indefinitely and her new friend Sophie decides to run for class president, Pixie finds herself way too close to the spotlight. How far is she willing to go to help the people she loves? |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Once a Crooked Man David McCallum, 2016-01-12 A struggling actor gets caught up in a mob family’s last hit in this comic crime thriller by the beloved actor from TV’s NCIS. Crime pays. And pays well. Sal, Max, and Enzo Bruschetti have proved this over a lifetime of nefarious activity that they have kept hidden from law enforcement. Now, however, Max has a problem. His doctor has told him to take it easy, and so Max has decided that the time has come for the family to retire. But when young actor Harry Murphy overhears the Bruschetti brothers planning changes to their organization, including the murder of a man in London who knows too much, he makes the well-intentioned if egregious mistake of trying to warn the Brushettis’ intended victim, and the brothers’ plans begin to unravel . . . At turns tense and funny, Once a Crooked Man is infused with the infectious charm that made David McCallum one of television’s longest running, most-beloved stars. Praise for Once a Crooked Man “Crackling, darkly comic.” —Parade “Pretty danged good.” —The Washington Post “Highly entertaining . . . McCallum respects the genre’s tenets, supplying the right amount of intrigue, violence, and sex for a well-plotted, action-packed tale.” —Associated Press |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Crooked Hallelujah Kelli Jo Ford, 2020-07-14 “A masterful debut” that follows four generations of Cherokee women across four decades—from the Plimpton Prize–winning author (Sarah Jessica Parker). It’s 1974 in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and fifteen-year-old Justine grows up in a family of tough, complicated, and loyal women, presided over by her mother, Lula, and Granny. After Justine’s father abandoned the family, Lula became a devout member of the Holiness Church—a community that Justine at times finds stifling and terrifying. But Justine does her best as a devoted daughter, until an act of violence sends her on a different path forever. Crooked Hallelujah tells the stories of Justine—a mixed-blood Cherokee woman—and her daughter, Reney, as they move from Eastern Oklahoma’s Indian Country in the hopes of starting a new, more stable life in Texas amid the oil bust of the 1980s. However, life in Texas isn’t easy, and Reney feels unmoored from her family in Indian Country. Against the vivid backdrop of the Red River, we see their struggle to survive in a world—of unreliable men and near-Biblical natural forces, like wildfires and tornados—intent on stripping away their connections to one another and their very ideas of home. In lush and empathic prose, Kelli Jo Ford depicts what this family of proud, stubborn, Cherokee women sacrifices for those they love, amid larger forces of history, religion, class, and culture. This is a big-hearted and ambitious novel of the powerful bonds between mothers and daughters by an exquisite and rare new talent. “A compelling journey through the evolving terrain of multiple generations of women.” —The Washington Post |
| a crooked kind of perfect: A Thousand Never Evers Shana Burg, 2008-06-10 IN KUCKACHOO, MISSISSIPPI, 1963, Addie Ann Pickett worships her brother Elias and follows in his footsteps by attending the black junior high school. But when her careless act leads to her brother’s disappearance and possible murder, Addie Ann, Mama, and Uncle Bump struggle with not knowing if he’s dead or alive. Then a good deed meant to unite Kuckachoo sets off a chain of explosive events. Addie Ann knows Old Man Adams left his land to the white and black people to plant a garden and reap its bounty together, but the mayor denies it. On garden picking day, Addie Ann’s family is sorely tested. Through tragedy, she finds the voice to lead a civil rights march all her own, and maybe change the future for her people. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: The Meaning of Maggie (Sneak Preview) Megan Jean Sovern, 2014-03-18 A free sneak preview of The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern. Download now and enjoy this extended excerpt before the book goes on sale on May 6, 2014. As befits a future President of the United States of America, Maggie Mayfield has decided to write a memoir of the past year of her life. And what a banner year it's been! During this period she's Student of the Month on a regular basis, an official shareholder of Coca-Cola stock, and defending Science Fair champion. Most importantly, though, this is the year Maggie has to pull up her bootstraps (the family motto) and finally learn why her cool-dude dad is in a wheelchair, no matter how scary that is. Author Megan Jean Sovern, herself the daughter of a dad with multiple sclerosis, writes with the funny grace and assured prose of a new literary star. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this book will be donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Talk Santa to Me Linda Urban, 2022-09-27 Fifteen-year-old Frankincense (Frankie) Wood tries to pull off the Christmas of her dreams as she juggles trying to keep in touch with her best friend, family dynamics at the family's Holiday shop, and recovering from world's worst first kiss-- |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Wild and Crooked Leah Thomas, 2019-06-04 Critically-acclaimed author Leah Thomas blends a small-town setting with the secrets of a long-ago crime, in a compelling novel about breaking free from the past. In Samsboro, Kentucky, Kalyn Spence's name is inseparable from the brutal murder her father committed when he was a teenager. Forced to return to town, Kalyn must attend school under a pseudonym . . . or face the lingering anger of Samsboro's citizens, who refuse to forget the crime. Gus Peake has never had the luxury of redefining himself. A Samsboro native, he's either known as the disabled kid because of his cerebral palsy, or as the kid whose dad was murdered. Gus just wants to be known as himself. When Gus meets Kalyn, her frankness is refreshing, and they form a deep friendship. Until their families' pasts emerge. And when the accepted version of the truth is questioned, Kalyn and Gus are caught in the center of a national uproar. Can they break free from a legacy of inherited lies and chart their own paths forward? |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Umbrella Summer Lisa Graff, 2009-06-02 Annie Richards knows there are a million things to look out for—bicycle accidents, food poisoning, chicken pox, smallpox, typhoid fever, runaway zoo animals, and poison oak. That's why being careful is so important, even if it does mean giving up some of her favorite things, like bike races with her best friend, Rebecca, and hot dogs on the Fourth of July. Everyone keeps telling Annie not to worry so much, that she's just fine. But they thought her brother, Jared, was just fine too, and Jared died. It takes a new neighbor, who looks as plain as a box of toothpicks but has some surprising secrets of her own, to make Annie realize that her plans for being careful aren't working out as well as she had hoped. And with a lot of help from those around her—and a book about a pig, too—Annie just may find a way to close her umbrella of sadness and step back into the sunshine. With winsome humor and a dash of small-town charm, Lisa Graff's third novel is a touching look at rising above grief and the healing power of community. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Three Keys (Front Desk #2) Kelly Yang, 2020-09-15 The story of Mia and her family and friends at the Calivista Motel continues in this powerful, hilarious, and resonant sequel to the award-winning novel Front Desk. Mia Tang thinks she's going to have the best year ever.She and her parents are the proud owners of the Calivista Motel, Mia gets to run the front desk with her best friend, Lupe, and she's finally getting somewhere with her writing!But as it turns out, sixth grade is no picnic...1. Mia's new teacher doesn't think her writing is all that great. And her entire class finds out she lives and works in a motel! 2. The motel is struggling, and Mia has to answer to the Calivista's many, many worried investors.3. A new immigration law is looming and if it passes, it will threaten everything -- and everyone -- in Mia's life.It's a roller coaster of challenges, and Mia needs all of her determination to hang on tight. But if anyone can find the key to getting through turbulent times, it's Mia Tang! |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Once Two Sisters Sarah Warburton, 2020-09-08 Perfect for fans of Alafair Burke and Megan Collins, Sarah Warburton's debut novel that explores the dangerous bond between sisters. When her sister goes missing, Zoe assumes it's just another one of her estranged sibling's stunts--but the danger is all too real. Zoe Hallett and her sister, Ava, are the precocious offspring of two pioneering scientists, but the sisters have been estranged for years. When Zoe reads a news story about Ava's mysterious disappearance, she assumes it's just another of her sister's twisted fictions, designed to blame Zoe and destroy the peaceful life she's created with her husband and beautiful stepdaughter in Houston. But Zoe's email is hacked to send threatening messages to Ava--and a more sinister picture begins to emerge. Zoe returns to her home state of Virginia to prove her innocence to the authorities, to her parents, and to Glenn, her ex-boyfriend and current brother-in-law. For the first time, Zoe begins to believe Ava is in grave danger, and when Glenn catches her searching for clues in Ava's home, she looks guiltier than ever--but maybe Glenn is not all he seems. The clues Zoe finds point to a bizarre link between Ava's disappearance and her mother's research. Is there a secret someone is trying to protect? And would someone be willing to kill to protect it? As her sister's life hangs in the balance, Zoe draws on hidden reserves of strength and hope to save the sister she never thought she loved. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Shatter Me Tahereh Mafi, 2011-11-15 The gripping first installment in New York Times bestselling author Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series. One touch is all it takes. One touch, and Juliette Ferrars can leave a fully grown man gasping for air. One touch, and she can kill. No one knows why Juliette has such incredible power. It feels like a curse, a burden that one person alone could never bear. But The Reestablishment sees it as a gift, sees her as an opportunity. An opportunity for a deadly weapon. Juliette has never fought for herself before. But when she’s reunited with the one person who ever cared about her, she finds a strength she never knew she had. And don’t miss Defy Me, the shocking fifth book in the Shatter Me series! |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Heaven's Crooked Finger Hank Early, 2017-11-07 NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARD WINNER An eerie and intense Southern Gothic, this “twisty, page-turning” mystery transports readers to a secretive community in the Georgia mountains (Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts) Earl Marcus thought he had left the mountains of Georgia behind forever, and with them, the painful memories of a childhood spent under the fundamentalist rule of his father RJ’s church—a church built on fear, penance, and the twisting, writhing mass of snakes. But then an ominous photo of RJ is delivered to Earl’s home. The photograph is dated long after his father’s burial, and there’s no doubt that the man in the picture is very much alive. As Earl returns to Church of the Holy Flame searching for the truth, faithful followers insist that his father has risen to a holy place high in the mountains. Nobody will talk about the teenage girls who go missing, only to return with strange tattoo-like marks on their skin. Rumors swirl about an old well that sits atop one of the mountains, a place of unimaginable power and secrets. Earl doesn’t know what to believe, but he has long been haunted by his father, forever lurking in the shadows of his life. Desperate to leave his sinful Holy Flame childhood in the past, Earl digs up deeply buried secrets to discover the truth before time runs out and he’s the one put underground in Heaven’s Crooked Finger, Hank Early’s thrilling series debut. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Shadows on the Sea JOAN HIATT HARLOW, 2012-12-11 The United States is at war with Germany. Fourteen-year-old Jill Winter's mother is traveling to Newfoundland to be with Jill's sick uncle and must pass through the treacherous North Atlantic where German submarines -- U-boats -- stalk like wolves. Jill's father, a famous pop singer, is on tour, so Jill is sent to Winter Haven, Maine, to stay with Nana. Quarry, a local boy, says that gossip ain't never been so good, and Jill soon discovers he's right -- Winter Haven is full of secrets and rumors. First there's Wendy, a teenager who's visiting her aunt Adrie, the owner of a local inn, and who tells so many fanciful stories and secrets, it's hard to know what's true. Then there are the Crystals, a snobbish girls' club, who blackball Wendy because of a dark secret they reveal to Jill. Even Nana seems to be keeping secrets -- with her Germanfriend Ida Wilmar! Who's a friend and who's an enemy? As German subs torpedo American and Canadian ships off the Maine coast, Jill is anxious for her mother's safety. Her fears are heightened when she finds a wounded pigeon with the message Sonnabend ivattached to its leg! When Nana and Ida Wilmar whisper to each other and Jill hears that same word -- Sonnabend -- she determines to uncover the truth behind the mysteries in Winter Haven. But she soon finds herself in grave danger when she uncovers the biggest secret of all -- and must run for her life! Based on startling historical events that took place in the harbors of Maine during World War II, Shadows on the Seais a fast-paced mystery that will keep readers guessing from beginning to end. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Come November Katrin van Dam, 2018-10-30 This refreshingly original, contemporary YA debut centers on Rooney, a teen girl struggling to hold her family together in the face of her mother's delusions. It's not the end of the world, but for Rooney Harris it's starting to feel that way. It's the beginning of senior year, and her mom just lost her job. Even worse, she isn't planning to get another one. Instead, she's spending every waking moment with a group called the Next World Society, whose members are convinced they'll be leaving Earth behind on November 17. It sounds crazy to Rooney, but to her mother and younger brother it sounds like salvation. As her mom's obsession threatens to tear their lives apart, Rooney is scrambling to hold it all together. But will saving her family mean sacrificing her dreams -- or theirs? |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Mabel and Sam at Home Linda Urban, 2018-06-05 At the new house, there were movers and shouting and boxes and blankets. There were many places a girl like Mabel and a boy like Sam could be tripped over or smooshed or trod upon. There was one safe place where they would not. And that is how Mabel became a Sea Captain. In this three-part picture book of moving house and imaginative play, Mabel and Sam sail the high seas of their new home; tour the intriguing museum of their living room; journey through outer space to the safety of their own beds; and discover how far afield—and how close to home—imagination can take them. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: The Silent Patient Alex Michaelides, 2019-02-05 **THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** An unforgettable—and Hollywood-bound—new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy. —Entertainment Weekly The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him.... |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Listening for Lions Gloria Whelan, 2009-10-06 A critically acclaimed historical novel “that roars” (Kliatt), from the author of the National Book Award-winning novel Homeless Bird. Africa is the only home Rachel Sheridan has ever known. But when her missionary parents are struck with influenza, she is left vulnerable to her family’s malicious neighbors. Surrounded by greed and lies, Rachel is entangled in a criminal scheme and sent to England, where she's forced into a life of deception. Like the lion, she must be patient and strong, awaiting the moment when she can take control of her own fate—and find her way home again at last. Named one of New York Public Library's One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing, this tale of a strong young heroine “in the tradition of Frances Hodgson Burnett” (School Library Journal), by award-winning master of historical fiction Gloria Whelan, is a perfect read for schools and classrooms, as well as for fans of A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Our Crooked Hearts Melissa Albert, 2022-06-28 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * #1 INDIE NEXT PICK * 6 STARRED REVIEWS Secrets. Lies. Bad choices. Dangerous magic. . . . From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Melissa Albert comes OUR CROOKED HEARTS, a contemporary fantasy so precise and enthralling that the only explanation is that Albert herself is a witch (Booklist, starred review) On the way home from a party, seventeen-year-old Ivy and her soon-to-be ex nearly run over a nude young woman standing in the middle of a tree-lined road. It’s only the first in a string of increasingly eerie events and offerings: a dead rabbit in the driveway, a bizarre concoction buried by her mother in the backyard, a box of childhood keepsakes hidden in her parents’ closet safe. Most unsettling of all, corroded recollections of Ivy and her enigmatic mother’s past resurface, with the help of the boy next door. What if there’s more to Ivy’s mother than meets the eye? And what if the supernatural forces she messed with during her own teen years have come back to haunt them both? Ivy must grapple with these questions and more if she’s going to escape the darkness closing in. Straddling Ivy’s contemporary suburban town and her mother’s magic-drenched 1990s Chicago, this bewitching and propulsive story rockets towards a conclusion guaranteed to keep readers up all night. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: All Shook Up Shelley Pearsall, 2009-10-13 The King of Rock ’n’ Roll lives! And he’s Josh’s dad. When 13-year-old Josh finds out that he has to stay with his dad in Chicago for a few months, he’s not too thrilled. But when he arrives at the airport, he’s simply devastated. His father—who used to be a scatterbrained but pretty normal shoe salesman—has become . . . Elvis. Well, a sideburnwearing, hip-twisting, utterly-embarrassing Elvis impersonator. Josh is determined to keep his dad’s identity a secret, but on his very first day at his new school, a note appears on his locker. It’s signed Elvisly Yours, and instead of a name, a sneering purple smiley face. The secret is out, and when his dad is invited to perform at a special 50s concert at his school, Josh is forced to take drastic action. From award-winning author Shelley Pearsall comes a hilarious novel about discovering the important (and sometimes painful) difference between who you want to be—and who you really are. “Alternately wry, silly, thoughtful and laugh-out-loud funny.”—BookPage |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Crooked Heart Lissa Evans, 2014-11-06 When Noel Bostock - aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he winds up in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thiry-six, drowning in debts. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it. The war's thrown up all manner of new opportunities but what Vee needs is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team. Together they cook up an idea. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all . . . Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2015 |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Corrupt Penelope Douglas, 2023-11-07 Dreams might be a heart’s desire, but nightmares are its obsession in the first novel of a dark romance series from New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas. Erika Fane’s boyfriend's older brother is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college's basketball team gone pro, he's more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than he is with her. But she saw him. She heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid... For years, Erika bit her nails, unable to look away. Now, she’s in college, but she hasn’t stopped watching him. He’s bad and the things she’s seen aren’t content to stay in her head anymore. Because he's finally noticed her. But Michael Crist knows the hold he has on Rika, how much she fears him. She looks down when he enters the room and stills when he’s close. He knows she thinks only of him. When Michael’s brother leaves for the military, leaving Rika alone and unprotected, he knows the opportunity is too good to be true. Three years ago she put Michael’s friends in prison, and now they’re free. Every last one of her nightmares is about to come true. |
| a crooked kind of perfect: Cemetery Boys Aiden Thomas, 2020-09-01 A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas's New York Times-bestselling paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys, described by Entertainment Weekly as groundbreaking. Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school's resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave. Praise for Cemetery Boys: Longlisted for the National Book Award The novel perfectly balances the vibrant, energetic Latinx culture while delving into heavy topics like LGBTQ+ acceptance, deportation, colonization, and racism within authoritative establishments. —TeenVogue.com This stunning debut novel from Thomas is detailed, heart-rending, and immensely romantic. I was bawling by the end of it, but not from sadness: I just felt so incredibly happy that this queer Latinx adventure will get to be read by other kids. Cemetery Boys is necessary: for trans kids, for queer kids, for those in the Latinx community who need to see themselves on the page. Don’t miss this book. —Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift |
CROOKED Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of CROOKED is not straight. How to use crooked in a sentence.
CROOKED | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
CROOKED definition: 1. not forming a straight line, or having many bends: 2. dishonest: 3. not forming a straight…. Learn more.
CROOKED Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
See examples of CROOKED used in a sentence.
Crooked - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
Something crooked is not straight, like a trail through the woods, or your cousin's unfortunate set of teeth. Crook is a Middle English verb meaning "bend," which comes from the Norse for …
CROOKED definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
If you describe something as crooked, especially something that is usually straight, you mean that it is bent or twisted. ...the crooked line of his broken nose. ...a crooked little tree. A crooked …
Crooked - definition of crooked by The Free Dictionary
Define crooked. crooked synonyms, crooked pronunciation, crooked translation, English dictionary definition of crooked. adj. 1. Having or marked by bends, curves, or angles. 2. At an irregular …
crooked adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and ...
Definition of crooked adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
What does crooked mean? - Definitions.net
Crooked refers to something that is bent, curved, twisted or not in a straight line. It can also mean dishonest or unlawful, especially when referring to a person's actions or behaviors. Song lyrics …
Crooked Definition & Meaning - YourDictionary
Crooked definition: Having or marked by bends, curves, or angles.
CROOKED Synonyms: 181 Similar and Opposite Words | Merriam ...
Synonyms for CROOKED: curved, twisted, winding, curving, twisting, serpentine, tortuous, bending; Antonyms of CROOKED: straight, direct, linear, straightaway, honest, ethical, …
CROOKED Definition
The meaning of CROOKED is not straight. How …
CROOKED | English mea…
CROOKED definition: 1. not forming a …
CROOKED Definition
See examples of CROOKED used in a sentence.
Crooked - Definition, M…
Something crooked is not straight, like a …
CROOKED definition a…
If you describe something as crooked, …
