Angel's Grace (Paula Wiseman Books) [Hardcover]

Tracey Baptiste (Author)

Book Description

Series: Paula Wiseman Books

While visiting her grandmother in Trinidad, thirteen-year-old Grace sees a photograph of a stranger with a birthmark identical to hers, and begins to wonder if the reason she feels different from the rest of her family is that he is her real father.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8–Grace, 13, is not happy about spending the summer with her grandmother in Trinidad, away from her friends and parents in New York City. Increasingly, she has been feeling different from the rest of her family, questioning who she is. Her wild red hair is the most visible sign, but something beyond the obvious is telling her that she doesn't quite belong. When her aunt brings over an old photo album and Grace sees a blurred picture of a young man with a birthmark just like hers standing with her mother, her conviction only increases. She tracks down her parents' old friends and quizzes them about the photo and eventually finds the answer she has both known and feared: that the man she knows as her father is not her biological parent. She also learns that her biological father, Angel, died in an accident before her birth. Talking to her parents is not easy, but through their strength and love, the three of them work things out. This portrayal rings true. Grace is a real teenager–stubborn, willful, sensitive, and confused. She learns much about herself and her family during her quest and grows in the process. And she realizes that a family can encompass many things as long as love is there. A fine first novel with the added bonus of the island setting.–Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. "Instinctively I always knew that I belonged somewhere else," says 13-year-old Grace, who, along with her younger sister, has left Brooklyn to spend the summer in Trinidad with their grandmother. At first, Grace misses her home and friends, and her ambivalent feelings are further complicated by a family photo album that offers clues to a secret she has long sensed. With the help of a sweet boy next door, Grace uncovers painful answers to her questions, as well as deep, rich connections to the island. Grace tells her own story with words and sketches (drawn by the author) in a moving debut that is as frank and authentic about sibling rivalry and family anger as it is about the earthy, fruit-scented tropical setting. Many readers will connect with the family secrets that leave "little pinpricks" around the heart, and Grace's joy when she discovers that "not all secrets . . . turn your whole world upside down. Some of them are sweet little things that are simply too delicious to let slip." - Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books; 1 edition (January 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689867735
• ISBN-13: 978-0689867736
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,952,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Soothing and Wonderful, October 24, 2005

By 

annmmar "ASMB" (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angel's Grace (Paula Wiseman Books) (Hardcover)

Grace is thirteen years old. She and her sister have been sent to Trinidad for their summer vacation. At first she is not enjoying being there and misses her friends in Brooklyn. Grace has always felt like an outsider. She feels that her sister Sally is her father's favorite. Also, she has the most unusual red hair that no one in the family seems to have. then one day her aunt showed her an album of pictures of her mother and father when they were younger. From those pictures she comes across a man with similar red hair and a birthmark (features of a small hand) and begins to question if the man she has been calling father is her real father. Excellent plot very believable and real. Great read

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book Overall, October 6, 2005

By 

BookWorm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angel's Grace (Paula Wiseman Books) (Hardcover)

Angel Grace is a great book. When I read it I never wanted to take my eye off of it. The end of the book is kind of a surprise. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves to read Mystery. Angels Grace is about a girl named Grace who thinks she is a misfit, so she goes and finds out why all because of a picture. I thought it was the best book ever.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book : Angel's Grace, March 15, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Angel's Grace (Paula Wiseman Books) (Hardcover)

There are many good books, but I think that Angel's Grace is one of the best. When I began to read this book, I thought that it was going to be boring, but I was really wrong. Angel's Grace is a wonderful book that continued to make me want to read it as it went on. I thought that this book was very good because it seems as if you were there and living the life of the family.
In Angel's Grace, there are very good and interesting parts, but there are also sad parts. The section in the book that I thought was the best was when Grace and her mother sat down and took out the memory box of her father and discussed it. In this part they were able to talk about their feelings about the death of her father, Angel. However, the part that I thought was sad was when Grace assumed that a man named Mitch was her father and she found out that he wasn't. Another sad part in this book was when Grace finds out who her father actually was and that he had been killed in a car accident.
Through this book, you can get to know the characters because they are vividly discribed and seem to come to life. I got to know the main character, Grace including her hopes, adventures, and disappointments. Another thing that is discribed well is the setting. It takes place on a large island called Trinidad which has bright blue skies, sandy beaches, and delicious exotic fruits. This lovely setting makes you want to be there and describes it as a tropical paradise.