Angela and Diabola [Hardcover]

Lynne Reid Banks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997 | Age Level: 8 and up

Lynne Reid Banks, bestselling author of the award-winning Indian in the Cupboard books, has created a darkly comic, modern classic tale of good and evil. As powerful as it is funny, Angela and Diabola is a story that will speak to young readers on many levels. Twins Angela and Diabola come into the world as different as night and day. From the very beginning, Angela is a happy, beautiful, perfect, blue-eyed little girl. A joy to her parents, she never, never cries. Diabola arrives kicking and screaming, her green eyes flashing and her not-pretty face purple with rage. She is the bane of her parents' lives. With each passing day, Angela becomes more loving, caring, and beautiful. Meanwhile, Diabola tries her best (worst) to be as hateful and revolting as she can be. And she is successful at it-really successful. While Angela makes everyone happy, Diabola makes people infuriated, frightened, and sick to their stomachs. When the twins are old enough for school, it's a nightmare. Angela loves school, and the teacher loves Angela. Diabola has found another place to be her outrageous and appalling self. She spits in the teacher's eye and worse. No one has ever seen such a dreadful child and no one knows what to do about her-not the twins' parents, not the teachers, not even the authorities. Only Angela has the power to affect her twin. But changing Diabola comes at a terrible price...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the author of The Indian in the Cupboard comes a gleeful romp with a pair of twins: one good and one evil. "The expansive storytelling and comic exaggeration produce high kid appeal," said PW. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8. From the moment they are born, twin sisters Angela and Diabola are almost enough to drive their normal parents, the Cuthbertson-Joneses, to distraction. Angela is perfect. Diabola is perfectly horrid. As a toddler she kills the cat, starts a riot in the grocery store, and causes her mother to be jailed. Exorcism fails, so the only solution is containment?Diabola must be caged most of the time. Fortunately, her teachers decide her sadomasochistic drawing is the work of a genius so she is kept busy with art and relatively free of trouble. But when her father runs away in despair, her evil energies begin to grow. She pulls down the house, learns to start fires with her mind, and wreaks havoc through her telekinetic abilities. Only Angela can stop her, which she does in an epic fight of good against evil. Good wins, but somehow Angela ends up with one of Diabola's eyes?and a little bit of evil. Banks's absurd look at human nature is often bitingly funny. Diabola hates to bathe, but she likes "lying in very hot water and gnawing on hard foods like bones, so she was not as unfresh...as she might have been." No punches are pulled and Diabola's actions are not for the squeamish. But fans of the ridiculous, and of Roald Dahl, should enjoy this wicked romp.?Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; 1st. ed edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380975629
• ISBN-13: 978-0380975624
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,408,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lynne Reid Banks is a best-selling author for children and adults. Her classic children's novel 'The Indian in the Cupboard' has sold nearly six million copies worldwide. She was born in London in 1929 and worked as an actress, writer and TV news reporter. Lynne has written thirty books: her first, 'The L-Shaped Room', was published in 1960. She now lives in Dorset, where she continues to write. Lynne says that writing for children comes much more easily than writing for adults. Tony Ross was born in London in 1938. He has worked as an art director at an advertising agency, a graphic designer, a cartoonist, a teacher, a film maker and as a Senior Lecturer in Art at Manchester Polytechnic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, July 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Angela and Diabola (Paperback)

Thi book is great. It is about twins. Angela is sweet and caring and kind. Diabola is the devil. Lynne Reid Banks did a great job on it. It is a great idea and the details are really funny. It is a little violent though. I suggest this book should be read by 7 years olds and up. It really isn't confusing though. This book shows the struggle of a family that has been blessed and been punished. Angela is mature and comforts her parents. Diabola hates everyone and is mean. But no matter what Angela loves Diabola, even when Diabola trys to kill her. When Angela is near Diabola, she can't do anything wrong. Angela got all the goodness and Diabola got all the badness. Each person is good and bad. But these girls aren't. Diabola is a terror and the only person that can stop her is Angela. The story is sad. but it is also impossible to put down. Itis one ofmy favorite books. For some reason I think Angela needed badness more then Diabola needed goodness. Diabola hates her sister and is getting to be very powerful. But so is Angela. I hate not being able to say all the details but I don't want to ruin the book for you. so whats stoping you. get the book today. if you don't read this book then you will never read a book that has sadness, badness, goodnes, and lotsof other things, all mixed together.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nicely read & enjoyed by an 8 year old, June 5, 2000

By 

Troy Adams "NJTroy" (Freehold, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angela and Diabola (Audio Cassette)

We purchased the audiobook version of this book. It was an interesting story that my 8 yo loved, but my 6 yo was somewhat frightened by it(and he's not frightened by much lately). The characters are very interesting, deeply drawn and the relationship between the "good" twin (Angela) & "bad" twin (Diabola) is complex & rich. The reader did an excellent job (very important in an audio book). In addition, the layers of the story were sufficient for my husband & I to enjoy the book as well (we listened on a long car trip).

The only reason I gave this 4 stars was the fact that my 6 yo was too young for some of the content, making this book not appropriate for all ages.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is about twins with very different personalities., October 29, 1999

By 

Tulsi Kashyap (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angela and Diabola (Hardcover)

The story of Angela and Diabola all begins when Mrs. Cuterston-Jones gives birth to twins with compleatly different personalities. Angela was born with the personality of an angel where as her twin sister Diabola was born with the personality of a devil. Angela and Diabola's mother and father soon figure out that Angela and Diabola aren't going to balance any time soon. Angela and Diabola's mother and father start to realize that being around each other Angela and Diabola are slowly balancing. I give this book five stars because it wasn't to long and it was written in a reasonable sized print. I also like this book because it was funny and it was about something that doesn't happen everyday.