Customer Reviews

Angel on the Square

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wealthy, twelve-year-old Katya Ivanova and her mother have always lived a luxurious life in their mansion in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. They spend their summers on their country estate, The Oaks, and Katya's mother is a close friend of Empress Alexandra. When the Empress invites Katya's mother to come live in the palace as a lady-in-waiting and to bring Katya along to be a companion to her youngest daughter, Anastasia, Katya is thrilled. She and Anastasia, or Stana as she is called, become close friends. Katya even gets to accompany the royal family on their elegant yacht. But as the years go by, the world is engulfed by a terrible war. Defeat after defeat lowers the morale of the Russian soldiers, and soon the people are rebelling. Even though she has seen firsthand the poverty that many people live in, the royal family has become a second family to Katya. As revolution changes her once predictable life, Katya must change, too, if she is to survive what is to come. This was a beautifully written historical novel. Over the course of the story, Katya changes from a spoiled little girl to a mature young woman with a greater awareness of the world around her. I highly reccomend this novel to readers who enjoy historical fiction.

In pre-War Russia, a revolution rages. Katya and her mother, however, live in luxury -- their home is with the Tsar and the Empress, and their four daughters -- Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia -- and the ailing Alexei. Katya has never known what it's like to be poor before, because she has always lived with royalties and luxuries. But she does know Misha, a young soldier who knows about the revolution and fights strongly with the army for salvation, and Katya fears he will die in the war. As the years pass by, the luxurious Russia is thrust into the inevitable war that would mark itself in history. Katya knows she is no longer safe, even behind palace walls with her best friend, Anastasia --and finds that she must do something to try to stop the war. Angel On The Square is powerful historical fiction that deals with the wins and losses of revolution, what it means to care, and what maturity is all about.I felt strongly for Katya and for Russia as I read this book, and reading about the Grand Duchesses and their family, mostly Anastasia, through young Katya's eyes, is touching and the descriptive is beautiful. Until its last astounding page, this book was excellent.

Twelve-year-old Katya Ivanova has everything anyone would want. She lives in St.Petersburg, Russia with her mother who is a close friend to the Empress Alexandra. Katya knows nothing of the turmoil in Russia and of the troubles of the poor. When her mother is asked to be a lady-in-waiting for Empress Alexandra and the Tsar Katya moves in with them and their four daughters---Olga, Tiatiana, Marie, and Anastasia, who Katya quickly befriends and is better known as Stana. To Katya everyday life is great. She is naive to the outside world of the palace. Little does she know of the pheasants who want to overthrow the Tsar. The only worry in her life is Misha, her cousin, who is one who feels strongly about the revolution. As the years pass Russia enters World War I and the turmoil starts. For young Katya it is very hard to bear seeing how mistreated the Tsar is by his own people, who he thought was loyal.

This was another great historical novel by Gloria Whelan. It was very emotional and meant a lot to me. I have always been one interested in Anastasia so I really liked this book.

12 year old Katya lives in St.Petersburg in 1914. She is an aristocrat and doesn't know about the world outside of her.She is pampered, and in her cousin Misha's opinion a "spoiled child." Misha doesn't like the aristocratic lifestyle, and particularly hates the ruling of royals. He sides with the peasants, and tries to be as simple as possible. Katya does not believe Misha's words about how peasants live in awful conditions, and that the Tsar does nothing to help. All she has heard is good things about the Tsar, her mother respects and would never say a bad word about him or his family. Katya and her mother soon leave off to live in the Tsar's palace as Katya's mother is invited as a lady-in-waiting. At first Katya's life is tea-parties and gossip galore with all the Romanov daughters. Soon, however, Katya sees behind the palace walls, and begins to agree with Misha on his opinions of peasants. Throughout the book you see Katya's emotions and opinions on the real condition of everyone other then the nobles in Russia. Katya takes a big journey form noble to a farming peasant, and learns so much on the way. I liked this book very much because it actually told what happened in the rest of St. Petersburg and not just in the Romanov's castle. If you liked this book you will definitely love Homeless Bird.

Gloria Whelan is absolutely extraordinary in this book. I am a Romanov history buff, so that's probably one reason I loved it so much. The book is beautifully written however, and I sincerly believe anyone--child or adult--would adore this book. I am a children's librarian, and I recommended it to anyone in need of a good book. That's it: Angel on the Square is a just a plain good book.

I think that the book angel on the square was excellent in many ways, the vocabulary, the plot, the portrayal of characters, imagery, and details.

To start off with, i think that a brief summary of the book would be appropriate. In the begining of the book , there is a daughter of the lady in waiting named Katya Ivanova. She lives in the Zhukovsky mansio, which has been in her family for many generations. she is pampered and well cared for. Until her and her mother are invited to live with the Empress, the Tsar, and their children. She grows a bond with one of the daughters; Stana. Then the war breaks out, and they are forced to eat like the soldiers, and help in the hospital. Later the Tsar gives up the throne and is given the death sentence. Irina Petrovna, or Katya's mother tells the government that they are only friends, so that their lives would be saved. They flee the contry and move to a place called the Oaks, which was burned downby peasants who were mistreated by the owner of the Oaks, Vitya. He and his wife fled before the peasants could kill them. Katya found remnants of the place, and turned it into a cottage where they carry out the rest of their lives.

The vocabulary was amazing, quite a few times i had to have a dictionary next to me while I was reading to look up words I did not know. Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the portrayal of the characters; they appeared to be so real that I felt the emotions that the characters did. I felt I knew the characters even though they were fictional. One character in the book really stood out to me, and his name was Misha. He would always tell his sister (Katya) to look around and be observant about her surroundings, because not everyone had a comfortable place to sleep, abundant foods, and the privilege of not having to work. He also taught her to have her own beliefs, and to be an individual instead of just going with the flow like everyone else.

I think that the plot was very interesting, and adventurous. It was always at a climax, which made the book fun and interesting to read. But plot alone cannot make a book, and certainly the caracters, descriptive images, and informative wording all worked together to create a very educational, yet fun and informative wording all worked together to create a very educational, yet fun and informative book that would surely be as good to read for school as for free reading.

Ekaterina Ivanova, better known as Katya, is the daughter of Irina Petrovna, who is a very close friend to the empress of Russia. Since she was little, she has never faced poverty, and never understands the feelings of the poor, unlike her mother's close friends' son, Misha, who lives in the same place as Katya. Misha is a boy who opposes to the Tsar, the King of Russia. He tells Katya that the Tsar is useless, keeping his eyes close to all kind of problems. And yet, the Empress, not knowing what Misha had said, requests for Katya's mother to be her lady-in-waiting. That meant that Katya and her mother had to go and live in the palace with the Imperial family. It all turned out well at first, until war took over. Katya, her mother, and the Grand Duchesses, Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Katya's best friend Anastasia, faces fears and problems. What more, Misha was sent to war, and Katya feared for the day that only his dead body was returned to them. What will happen to Katya and Russia, will there be a revolution? Enjoy reading this book, as every flip will garantee to sastify you.

How do you describe the magnetism some books have when you're half-asleep at eleven p.m. looking for something to read? This book appeared on my bedside table one day, probably rescued from 10-year-old sister and 6-year-old brother's perpetual room cleaning, and somehow "I'll read a page or two" turned into the whole book. Go figure.

It's a book we were supposed to study in our homeschool group one summer, only I moved. Somehow I still ended up with a copy, and with my friends back at my old home telling me it was the best book I'd ever read, I knew I'd have to make time for it eventually. It's one of those blurbless books, though, the ones that rely on the author's name to propel them into readers' hands, and let's face it - I was seven. I didn't care about authors, I cared about stories. So imagine my surprise when I finally picked it up and discovered, miracle of miracles, a story. Not just any story, but a Story.

As I re-read descriptions of wealthy Katya's life in St. Petersburg, the incredible luxury of the Winter Palace, a parade of mouthwatering clothing and food descriptions to put The Hunger Games to shame, it all came flooding back how crushingly disappointed I had been when the Russian Revolution came, like I'd known it was going to even at seven. It's like when you watch the Titanic, and every time you pray you don't sink - some dreams feel too good to end. With each consecutive re-read, at eight years old, nine, ten, twelve, I'd usually put the book down at right about the start of World War I. Last night, though, I plowed straight through to the end, and to my surprise found that I liked the end better than the beginning, even though it made me cry. Go figure.

This is one of those rare books where the characters grow up with you - Katya from a sheltered brat to a confused teen to a compassionate woman. While my head didn't particularly thank me for my up-till-one-in-the-morning stunt, I can't say I've found a better book to re-read in a long time. And now that the author does actually mean something to me, I'll have to find the rest of Gloria Whelan's work; though I'm not sure I'll love any setting quite as much as I loved her Russia.

This book is a historical fiction book. There is a war going on between Russia and Germany. Kayta, the daughter of the empress's lady-in-waiting is the main character. I am doing my book report on this book and am loving it! The book sort of starts off a little slow but picks up speed to when I was reading 50-75 pages a night. (I am not a reader.) Katya is an awesome character who I love and I think in a way is a great role model. I would recommend this book to kids above the age of 10 because the description of the war might bring bad thoughts. I thought this was a great book and I am a fan of Gloria Whelan's books. My other favorite is Chu Ju's House by Gloria Whelan. These are great books to read!

The author presents a moving and compassionate picture of life under the last years of Tsar Nicholas II from the point of view of an adolescent girl who grew up in priviledged society. The author's intention has obviously been to present a piece of history to children in a way they can identify with and instead of the "rags to riches" story this is one from "riches to rags." The characters in the Imperial family,including Rasputin,are painted true to life and poor Nicholas was simply not up to the job he was confronted with. The book also shows very clearly in the character of Misha how youthful enthusiasm can turn to bitter disappointment when the fruits of revolution are presented.
The book can be highly recommended especially for Middle and High School libraries or as a gift for teenage children.
In our era, where the study of history as being "all about dead white males" is discouraged, Angel on the Square shows that history is people and, unfortunately, September 11 2001 has literally brought home to us in a most terrible manner.