May Malone is said to have a monster in her house, but what Norman finds there may just be the angel he needs. Joe Quinn’s house is noisy with poltergeists, or could it be Davie’s raging causing the disturbance? Fragile Annie learns the truth about herself in a photograph taken by a traveling man near the sea. Set in the northern English Tyneside country of the author’s childhood, these eight short stories by the incomparable David Almond evoke gritty realities and ineffable longings, experiences both ordinary and magical.
Angels
The Brothers’ Promise
When the brothers Yankel and Josef keep their promise to their dying father by sharing with one another, they cause the angels in heaven to weep with joy. A retelling of a story found in the Talmud.
Exile
Hades
Even the love of her boyfriend, Xavier Woods, and her archangel siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, can’t keep the angel Bethany Church from being tricked into a motorcycle ride that ends up in Hell. There, Jake Thorn bargains for Beth’s release back to Earth. But what he asks of her will destroy her, and quite possibly her loved ones as well. Can he be trusted in this wager? And what does Jake have Xavier believing about Beth’s fate that may result in an act of betrayal that will leave Bethany – and readers – wondering if Xav is so good after all?
Maximilian: The Mystery of the Guardian Angel
Eleven-year-old Margarito, a big fan of the form of wrestling known as lucha libre, begins to suspect that he has a close connection with his favorite luchador, El Angel de La Guardia, the Guardian Angel.
The Angel’s Mistake
Explains how a botched mission by two angels created the town of fools known as Chelm.
Dybbuk
Because forty days before a baby is born the angels in heaven decide whom it will marry, nothing prevents the wedding of Leah and Chonon from taking place.
The Angel And The Donkey
A soothsayer and his faithful donkey save the Israelites from destruction by King Balak on the orders of an angel.
Halo
Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone’ especially herself’from the Dark Forces. Is love a great enough power against evil? Here is the start of a stunning trilogy; the story continues in Hades (Fall 2011) and Heaven (Fall 2012).
The Crowfield Curse
An angel is buried behind the abbey! It’s 1347, and Will, an orphan boy, lives and works as an apprentice of the Crowfield monks. Sent into the forest to gather firewood, he stumbles across a trapped, wounded creature no bigger than a cat.The little goblin shares a terrible secret: Buried deep in the snow behind the monastery is an angel. But, Will wonders, how can an angel die? And what does this angel have to do with the history of Crowfield? When two cloaked strangers show up and start asking questions, Will is drawn into a dangerous world of Old Magic.