Review: Angel Creek by Sally Rippin

Angel Creek by Sally Rippin

Pages: 152
Publisher: Text Publishing
Published: February 28th, 2011
IBSN: 9781921758058

In her new falling-down home, in her new street, in her new suburb, Jelly waits for high school to begin. She can only feel happy up in the branches of the old apricot tree and by the creek at the back of the house. One night, Jelly and her cousins spot something in the creek’s dark waters. At first they think it’s a bird, but it isn’t…it’s a baby angel with a broken wing. And they decide to keep it.

But soon things start to go wrong, and Jelly discovers that you can’t just take something from where it belongs and expect that it won’t be missed.

Sally Rippin’s Angel Creek is a book about growing up: being brave and selfish and tough and scared. It’s a book about an angel. But not the sweet variety. It’s a book about the things that change and the things that always stay the same.

Angel Creek was a short, sweet, middle-grade novel about the consequences of taking things from where they belong that perfectly encapsulates the innocence of childhood.

The spare prose easily evoked the young voice of our main character, Jelly. The  setting was vividly described and atmospheric -- completely realistic. Our characters weren't all fleshed out and didn't have too much depth, but their motivations were easily understood.

Beyond that, I don't have much to say about this book. This is my usual issue with middle-grade books -- as interesting as other parts of the story may be, the young narrator that I couldn't relate to stopped me from fully appreciating them.

So while Angel Creek was a definitely sweet novel, younger readers (or just readers with 'younger' tastes) than I would probably enjoy it more. I had trouble connecting with such young characters.

I give Angel Creek a 3 out of 5.