The Unfinished Angel (review)
2010; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 63; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.0.1431
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Cinema and Media Studies
ResumoReviewed by: The Unfinished Angel Jeannette Hulick Creech, Sharon. The Unfinished Angel. Cotler/HarperCollins, 2009 164p. ISBN 978-0-06-143095-4 $15.99 Ad Gr. 3-6 The nameless resident angel of a small community in the Swiss Alps is initially dismayed when an American, Mr. Pomodoro, and his irrepressible daughter, Zola, arrive with plans to start an international school ("We will bring all the children from all over the world and we will live in harmony!"). Young Zola in particular shakes things up with her free-spiritedness and her colorful fashion sense (she layers bright skirts, scarves, and ribbons), and also with her ability to see the angel, something few humans have ever been able to do. When Zola discovers a group of orphaned children living in a shed, she demands the assistance of the angel; together, they break down the barriers that keep the children from being accepted into the village, changing stubborn hearts along the way. The angel narrator's "outsider" perspective ("Peoples are strange! The things they are doing and saying—sometimes they make no sense") and its linguistic oddities ("I am a little crankiful") are frequently entertaining, and the mysteries of its origins and purpose (both unknown to the angel itself) are intriguing; the crisp, short chapters keep the story's momentum going. However, the human characters are mostly cardboard cutouts (the bright, free-spirited child, the crabby and secretly heart-sore neighbor lady, the urchin children) who are never sufficiently developed; the plot also creaks with contrivance. Those with an aversion to whimsy will want to steer clear, but Sharon Creech fans and kids interested in angelic matters may find the quirky sweetness worthwhile. Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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