Angels on the Roof ANNOTATION
During a trip to her childhood home in Texas, a mother tries to prevent her teenage daughter from finding out the truth about her father.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Fourteen-year-old Shelby cannot understand why her mother, Zoe, is constantly packing them up and moving. Now that they've lived in the city for a year and Shelby even has a best friend, she's determined to stay put. She's tired of being at the mercy of her mother's strange moods and sudden whims. And she's tired of Zoe's evasions, especially on the subject of Shelby's father. When Shelby finds some concrete evidence of his existence—old photographs with a man's head carefully cut out—she determines to confront her mother. But before she has the chance, Zoe announces that they're taking a trip to Red Valley, where she used to live. Shelby hopes she can find some answers there and leave quickly. But Red Valley turns out to have a strange hold on Zoe, and Shelby discovers that some questions might be better left alone.
FROM THE CRITICS
Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction
A "great" collection of Banks's short stories, including eight new ones, plus an introduction by the author discussing how he chose the stories and his thoughts on his earlier works. "Truly entertaining. Banks's style is clean and imaginative, and he brings his characters up close and personal."
Publishers Weekly
This well crafted drama about an "At Risk" ninth grader and her eccentric single mother provides a fertile field of images, ideas and psychological profiles for readers to explore. Teenaged Shelby, who has moved a dozen or so times, is tired of following the crazy whims of her mother, Zoe, "a single mom with a string of used boyfriends." Now they're ready to hit the road again, this time to visit Zoe's foster mother, Aunt Onie, "a hundred-year-old-lady who lives in the middle of a cow pasture." Returning to her birthplace in Red Valley, Shelby hopes, at least, to dredge up some information about her "nonexistent" father, but piecing together fragments from the past brings pain as well as enlightenment. Moore's (Under the Mermaid Angel) down-to-earth prose is heightened by an intriguing network of symbols and allusions pertaining to the artist Georgia O'Keeffe (whom Shelby's mother idolizes). The author's eye for detail accentuates the eccentricities of her cast of characters (as in this example of Shelby describing a drugstore clerk, "The first thing I noticed was her hair. It was pale pink and whipped on top of her head like a Dairy Queen ice-cream cone") and draws attention to particular artifacts (a flat roof top, a silver belt buckle, Christmas ornaments) which carry special significance. Through Shelby's first-person narrative, readers uncover her deep-seated family secrets and are led to a startling conclusion. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
The ALAN Review - John H. Bushman
Fourteen-year-old Shelby wants desperately to know about her father even though her mother has no intention of telling her. Over the years, Shelby's mother has dreams that call her to travel, much to the disgust of Shelby. They have lived in many small towns but none so important as their current address: Red Valley, Texas, Here Shelby meets a variety of people-some relatives, some not. But more important, Shelby begins to learn about her father-a finding that will disturb most readers. Moore's strength in this novel is the superb characterization. We meet the cat lady, the waitress with pink Dairy Queen hair, Baby Superman, and Aunt Onie, who wears knee-high support hose even with shorts. Moore explores the complexities of the human heart in a story that is witty and, perhaps more importantly, compassionate.
VOYA - Jennifer Fakolt
Spectral, floating cow pelvises and platter-sized poppies may not be Shelby's idea of fine art, but Georgia O'Keeffe is just the latest in a long line of obsessions pursued by Shelby's waif-like mother, Zoe. Ultimately, it is O'Keeffe who leads mother and daughter on a pilgrimage of self-awareness and understanding. At fourteen, Shelby qualifies as an "at-risk" student in school, not because of poor grades, but because she (a) comes from a broken home and (b) is on the free lunch program. All Shelby wants to do is finish her ninth-grade year in one place and get some answers about her absent father. When she finds a box of photographs with her father's face cut out of every one, her anxiety mounts. Zoe, however, refuses to speak of him. Shelby endures her mother's restlessness and short-lived attempts at self-discovery with practical resignation, but she is outraged when Zoe announces that O'Keeffe appeared to her in a dream, signifying that they must take a trip to Red Valley, Texas, to visit an old foster parent of Zoe's. Shelby, furious, hopes that the journey will provide the answers she has been longing for. The small town of Red Valley is filled with good-hearted, eccentric characters, from Teena, the drugstore waitress with pink, Dairy Queen hair, to Annabelle, the Cat Lady whose felines are named after Shakespearean heroines. Not the least odd is Aunt Onie, Zoe's foster parent who also is a carver, "releasing" images from wood. Shelby is resistant to the town and its people, but gradually makes friends with Reese, a cowboy near her own age, and comes to appreciate the comfortable ties of the community. Slowly, the truth about Shelby's abusive father is revealed, as are the reasons for Zoe's incessant need to relocate. Shelby gives her mother one last chance to take responsibility and prove her love, and Zoe rises like an angel to the occasion. Shelby, similar to one of Aunt Onie's carvings, begins to emerge from her protective shell and learns that love can heal and forgive. She is a likeable character, whose insecurities and desires for truth and affection will be easily related to by teens. The supporting characters are a celebration of the kind-hearted absurdities of ordinary people. Moore's writing is a pleasure, filled with gentle ironies, whimsy, and honesty. While not as poignant as her first novel, Under the Mermaid Angel (Laurel Leaf, 1997/VOYA December 1995), this is a nicely crafted, sensitive story of a girl's coming of age. VOYA Codes: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Will appeal with pushing, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).
School Library Journal
Gr 7-10Shelby knows that she is smart in spite of being labeled by her school as "at risk." She can't understand why her mother moves around so much, and she is determined to finish the ninth grade in one place. She asks about her father but is provided with vague and unsatisfying answers. When her mother decides to take a frantic trip to her childhood home of Red Valley, Texas, simply because Georgia O'Keeffe has appeared to her in a dream, Shelby resists, but with no effect. In this dramatic, sparse landscape, she finds a traumatic piece of her past. As in Under the Mermaid Angel (Delacorte, 1995), Moore explores human relationships lost, found, and unusual. Once again, she draws some very eccentric characters: Teena, a pink-haired would-be singer, is entertaining; Aunt Onie, an ancient earth-mother type who believes that angels on her roof signal lost children to come her way, is interesting; and Shelby, the likable narrator, provides some wonderfully ironic send-ups. But a cowboy love interest and a drama teacher seem to be thrown in to prove that not all males are brutal and that normal people can live in an isolated environment. There are clumsy attempts at symbolism and at least one plot digression. Most troubling is the mother's habit of continually letting Shelby down and then unrealistically reversing her behavior at the novel's end. At times a fascinating read, but a mixed bag, lacking the unity and magic of Moore's earlier book.Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY
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