Black Angels - Hardcover

Murphy, Rita

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385327765 ISBN 13: 9780385327763

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2001

Synopsis

A powerful look at race and family at the dawn of the civil rights movement.

Eleven-year-old Celli's summer begins the usual way -- her mother leaves for a month's vacation in Atlanta and Sophie the baby-sitter moves into their house from the other side of town. But this is not a usual summer. Celli has discovered angels that no one else can see -- black angels appearing on the white side of town. And Sophie, part of the family despite the dark color of her skin, has become an outspoken advocate for equal rights. Her daring support of the fledgling civil rights movement embarrasses Celli -- and leaves her an outcast among her friends. As the black community's support for equality swells, Celli feels more embarrassed by Sophie's strident presence in town than supportive of the movement, until her long-lost grandmother from Ohio pays a visit and reveals a secret that will change the way Celli looks at life, color, and family.

About this title

Review:

During the summer of 1961, 11-year-old Celline Brower Jenkins discovers the existence of angels. "I believe in angels because I've seen them... three naked black girls with creamy white wings, throwing stones on my hopscotch board.... The angels come every day now since the trouble started." The "trouble" is that Celli's beloved housekeeper, Sophie, is stirring up the black community of Mystic, Georgia, with talk of the civil rights movement. Celli is frightened for Sophie, and knows the folks on her side of town--"the white side"--won't tolerate her activism much longer. But when Celli begins to see the small black angels around her home, she feels strangely comforted: "They never speak to me, but somehow their presence fills me with hope." Then a stranger with a secret about Celli's past comes to town the same week as the Freedom Riders, and Celli discovers her fate is tied to Sophie's in a way she never dreamed possible. Now Celli must find the courage, in a dangerous time and place, to stand up for what she knows is right.

Rita Murphy's second novel for young adults puts a fresh face on a familiar story. By inserting a trio of unconventional angels into the center of an ugly period of American history, Murphy gives her historical fiction a touch of fairy tale, while not shying away from the harsh reality of 1960s racism. A worthy companion novel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry or The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963. (Ages 10 to 13) --Jennifer Hubert

About the Author:

Rita Murphy's first novel, Night Flying, won the Delacorte Press Prize in 1999.

About this edition

• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0385327765
• ISBN 13: 9780385327763
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176