Hoffman, Alice. Green angel.HOFFMAN, Alice. Green angel. Scholastic. 116p. c2003, 0-439-44385-7 $5.99. JS* To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, January 2003: Hoffman follows up her other colorfully titled novels for YAs (Aquamarine aquamarine (ăk'wəmərēn`, äk'–) [Lat.,=seawater], transparent beryl with a blue or bluish-green color. Sources of the gems include Brazil, Siberia, the Union of Myanmar, Madagascar, and parts of the United States. , Indigo) with this poetic fairytale about a 15-year-old girl nicknamed Green, because she has a talent for gardening. One day her parents and younger sister head out to the nearby city to sell the vegetables they grow, but Green stays home to tend the garden. A terrible catastrophe strikes the city that day, a fire so devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. that the embers em·ber n. 1. A small, glowing piece of coal or wood, as in a dying fire. 2. embers The smoldering coal or ash of a dying fire. fly all the way to Green's home and get in her eyes, nearly blinding her. Grief-stricken by the loss of her family, Green puts thorns on her clothes and nails on her boots, and covers her skin with tattoos of black vines and black roses, renaming herself "Ash." She scrounges desolately des·o·late adj. 1. a. Devoid of inhabitants; deserted: "streets which were usually so thronged now grown desolate" Daniel Defoe. b. in the woods for any food she can find, and it isn't until she takes in a ghostly white greyhound greyhound, breed of tall, swift, sight hound developed nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt. It stands about 26 in. (66 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 65 lb (29.5 kg). that her heart starts to open up again to others. She helps out a neighbor and a former classmate, adopts some sparrows and a hawk, and welcomes a mute, fire-damaged boy to come stay in her house. She finally accepts help from others--the sparrows weave her a fishing net from strands of her hair, for example--and gradually her heart starts to heal and her black tattoos begin to turn green. She is Green once again, with a new understanding of loving and letting go, realizing that "There was the world waiting outside, aching and ruined, but beautiful all the same." This parable has the pull and charm of myth, and the clear reference to the events of 9/11 give it an extra poignancy. Fairytale and fantasy fans will love this. J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. *--The asterisk (1) See Asterisk PBX. (2) In programming, the asterisk or "star" symbol (*) means multiplication. For example, 10 * 7 means 10 multiplied by 7. The * is also a key on computer keypads for entering expressions using multiplication. highlights exceptional books. |
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