Ten-year-old Michael faces more than a child his age should bear, with his family’s move to a house in poor repair and his prematurely born sister’s fight for life. As Michael explores the garage, he encounters a strange creature who changes his life. Is he a man, some sort of beast, or maybe even an angel? Soon Michael’s new friend and neighbor, Mina, shares in the secret.

This is an unexpectedly touching story. Michael’s intense worry for his baby sister manifests in acts of kindness toward the creature in the garage. Old soul Mina is a source of comfort for Michael and understands him in a way that only another child can. The author’s audio narration captures the innocence and awe of these children. My only reservation about this story is the occasional cursing. It would have been out of place in the home I grew up in and among my elementary school classmates. ( )

Poetic, touching, a little fantastical. I liked the bit about shoulder blades. ( )

READING LEVEL: 3.5 AR POINTS: 4.0
(Ages 9-12, grades 4-7)

This was a very strange story that I didn’t quite understand. I found it another dark story by David Almond and don't believe I'm quite a fan of his writing.

Skellig is the man Michael found sitting in the corner of their garage and covered in cobwebs, bluebottles and dust. He was part man, part owl and part angel, but what kind of angel? He had dark matted hair and wearing black clothes. His skin was white, dry and cracked. His eyes were dark but gentle. He had wings, but he appeared to be dying and was riddled with arthritis. He was cocky and talked kind of mean with total hopelessness.

Michael and his friend fed him what the creature considered the “food of the gods”...Chinese food and beer. Otherwise, he had been living off of spiders and creepy crawlies in the garage. This doesn’t actually sound like a “heavenly” being, hence the confusion about where this story was really going.

Michael and his friend, Mina, seem to both have some kind of spiritual intuitive abilities and befriend this creature. They even love this creature. They help, along with a couple of owls, to nurture him back to health. Before the creature left, to who knows where, he joins them in a circle and looking deep into their eyes, they seem to go into some kind of trance and float and Michael and Mina grow wings temporarily. Once they return to the ground, their wings are gone. I never understood the meaning of this.

This dark creature later goes to the hospital where Michael’s baby sister is about to have heart surgery. He picks her up and she smiles into her eyes and she smiles back, then suddenly has baby wings. He then puts her back into her bed. Michael’s mother witnessed the whole thing but thought she was dreaming.

So, he’s a nice angel but a dark looking angel. I still don’t know the meaning of this man-creature. Is he a fallen angel? Is the angel of death? What is he exactly that even the owls feed him to keep him alive? And what was the purpose of giving them wings for a moment?

I better stick to real stories from now on cause I obviously don't have a very good imagination...lol ( )

This was on my younger son's English list this year so I read it quickly in between books. A great kid's novel. I enjoyed it, not sure if it will be my son's cup of tea, though. ( )

i really wanted to like this book but couldn't. it was weird and odd and maybe too deep for me. i didn't feel like there was a big enough pay off. but then again, what do i know. this won an award and im just a librarian ( )