Friends Everywhere
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.
The Little Angel of Friendship is the most popular angel around. He's pretty sure it won't take much for him to earn a few more feathers and get his flying wings. But there's a tough task ahead of him. He has to help a girl named Patricia make new friends.
There's nothing wrong with Patricia. It's just that she has a different way of talking than most children. Plus, she's just moved to a new town. The girl down the hall wants nothing to do with her -- she thinks Patricia is a baby. If Patricia doesn't speak up soon, there'll be one unhappy Little Angel of Friendship -- he needs those wings to fly!
Have you made a friend today?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This strained tale launches Napoli's (Crazy Jack, reviewed below) Angelwings series, in which young angels must help a youngster with a problem in order to earn their wings. Taking a cue from It's a Wonderful Life, the author explains, "Every time a little angel earned wings, a bell rang." Here, the Little Angel of Friendship's "tall task" is to help Patricia, a deaf child who has recently moved from a farm to a city apartment, to make new friends. The chapters alternate between what's happening in Patricia's world and forced, preachy interludes (called "Angel Talk") between the Archangel of Friendship and the little angel. Patricia's initial attempt to play with her neighbor, Lynsey, and another girl ends in disaster (Patricia watches in frustration as their mouths "moved and moved"). Readers find out why in the "Angel Talk" that follows: the little angel causes havoc when he blows on Lynsey's cheek ("I thought it might make her realize how confused and left out Patricia felt"), and the draft compels Lynsey to wrap a blanket around Patricia and stick a pacifier in her mouth so she can play the baby while the others play adults. Eventually, the little angel's bell does ring, but Napoli's uncharacteristically uninspired prose and flimsy story line fail to get this series off the ground. Ages 7-10. FYI: The publisher promotes an "Earn Your Wings!" essay contest at book's end.
