A Crooked Kind of Perfect

Linda Urban is an American author of books for young readers. She grew up in Michigan and remembers feeling like she wanted to stand out as a child. Although she tried to learn various skills like dance and music, she excelled the most at writing, and it stuck with her through to adulthood. She initially put her writing skills to use in marketing roles, and she didn’t find the confidence to write books until she worked on the team of a large independent bookstore in California. Urban’s work as a children’s author began in the mid-2000s with A Crooked Kind of Perfect, and she has written a mixture of picture books, chapter books, and young adult novels since then.

Urban seeks to craft stories with a mixture of humor and sensitivity. She often writes unconventional characters and plotlines that touch on subjects like mental health, death, and unstable home lives. Many of her protagonists are young girls who are in difficult situations but find strength in unlikely ways, such as through an unexpected friend or their own inner courage. A Crooked Kind of Perfect is loosely based on Linda Urban’s own experience growing up, as she too had an organ but wanted a piano.