Angel [Hardcover]

Cliff McNish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2008

Freya's intense passion for angels led her into years of mental illness. Now, just when she's starting to believe she's normal again, a dark angel starts to follow her. Soon she learns a stunning truth: She is an angel herself. And an angel's job is nothing like she imagined it would be...

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8–10—Mixing fantasy with brutal reality, McNish's novel is disturbing as well as moving. Freya, an angel-obsessed 14-year-old, has recently been released from a mental hospital, free to attend public school. Her 16-year-old brother, Luke, cautions her about the popular girls who have befriended her. From personal experience, he has seen how vicious they can be to those who step out on their own for any reason. Beyond his warning, Luke is not able to help Freya negotiate the world of high school because of problems of his own, including harsh bullies and his knowledge of their father's serious illness. It is gradually revealed that Freya, inexplicably, is part angel herself and, as the story progresses, she becomes more and more angel-like; she is eventually given the task of being a guardian to a number of human wards. While there are important and well-developed messages within this narrative, there are too many subplots for them to be effective: verbal bullying by girls, physical bullying by boys, fantasy that is just this side of reality, and illness of a parent to name the most evident. The writing is clear, and Freya and Luke are well developed, although the minor characters are little more than stereotypes. The busyness of the plot notwithstanding, McNish is an author to watch.—Wendy Smith-D'Arezzo, Loyola College, Baltimore, MD
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Heaven and earth mix in this arresting story. Freya has always wanted to be an angel. When she is eight, an angel visits her—which becomes the first of several long steps to hospitalization for delusions. Freya fights her way back, enters high school, and even finds a way into one of the cool crowds. Then Stephanie, who believes in angels, comes to the school, and the girls recognize each other. But while Stephanie wants to cleave to Freya, Freya can’t quite come to terms with Stephanie, fearful of the reaction of her new, pressuring peer group. There’s another reason as well. Freya has made a profound discovery: the angels she sees are real. On one level, this is a British school story, with cliques and bullies, but McNish goes further; his real accomplishment is melding the gritty ordinariness of everyday happenings with the magnificence of angels. For this, he needed the skills of a conductor, knowing when to play up the angelic choir and when to let it be heavenly background music. His descriptions of Freya’s two angels—one light and one dark—dazzle, and as the story moves into higher realms, readers are given much to ponder. Vampires and werewolves have been given their due in fiction of late; the mystery of angels takes center stage here. Grades 7-10. --Ilene Cooper

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 311 pages
• Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822589001
• ISBN-13: 978-0822589006
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,347,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary Story, October 14, 2008

By 

kaiser33 (Grand Blanc, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angel (Hardcover)

The characters in this book are vividly described and vividly real. There are several key themes intertwined within this book. The first theme revolves around peer pressure and the young teenager's desire to "fit in".
The second theme is a teenage boy's struggle to overcome his own fears by helping out a younger boy who is being bullied. While both of these themes play out, the underlying theme of the story is a twist on Angels and their purpose for existing.
I highly recommend this book for teens as well as adults. Excellent read!

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice, hopeful story, September 3, 2011

By 

S. Caughie "scaughie" (Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angel (Hardcover)

Like the reworking of angel mythology, and the overall positive message. The heroine is both believable and likeable, but the plot's a bit too predictable.

5.0 out of 5 stars Angels, March 17, 2011

By 

Kellie.A. (Billings, Montana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Angel (Hardcover)

Angel by Cliff Mcnish is about a girl when she was younger, could see an angel. And became obsessed, wanting to be one, and also wanting to see the angel that came to her once. And she is paying the price for it when she is younger, her family don't trust her about angels, because she promises she is not obsessed with them anymore, but when a angel and a girl who belives in them too shows up in her life. Things get tough.

I loved this book,I thought it was a good read. There isn't many angel books out there so when I read it. I couldn't put it down I wanted to know about the main character and the mysterious angel that shows up. I don't there are any cons about this book.