Green Angel

Green Angel
by Alice Hoffman
Scholastic Press
New York
2003
ISBN: 0439443849

Plot Summary:
Green has always generally felt like the black sheep of an otherwise supernaturally beautiful family. Farmers all, Green is particularly gifted with a green thumb. Then, one day as the family goes into the city to market, Green stays home to weed, and everything changes forever.
Critical Evaluation:
A wonderfully opaque book, Green's tale is told in simplified description and pared-down emotion, mirroring Green's gradual breakdown into apathy and despair. The chapters are aligned according to "Heart," "Soul," "Treasure," and "Rain," marking a trail from numbness to pain to torrential feeling to redemption.
Reader's Annotation:
After a seemingly natural disaster destroys her family, Green shuts down from all she knows and feels. She literally paints herself into a corner, painting the exits shut. But the natural world does not seem to want Green dead...
Genre:
Dystopia/Romance/YA Fiction
Author Info:
Alice Hoffman is the author of countless books for young adults and adults. Her books have been translated into film, and into over 20 different languages. Practical Magic and Aquamarine were both made into films.
Reader Level/Interest Age:
A young adult book, but with emotional themes and stylistic tendencies so mature that it will appeal to most poetry readers.
Booktalking Ideas:
*Why does Green change her name to Ash?
*What do the thorns, bats, and ivys signify?
*What does Diamond bring to Ash's life?
Challenge Issues:
A dark book, but no challenges foreseeable.
Why Include?:
The book jacket appealed to me; and Hoffman's name is well-known.