The Angels of Morgan Hill
“Well who in the world is that?” We turned around and saw the biggest, blackest man I’d ever seen standing at the back of the church with the Cannons. The little coloured boy from the back of the pickup truck stood next to him. The congregation grew quiet as everybody turned to look. The coloured women held a little girl tight to her chest. She looked no older than three and her hair was tied with strips of red cloth in tiny back braids that stuck up all over her head. I thought she was the most beautiful child I’d ever seen. I heard Margret mumble something about them “having their own churches” under her breath behind me and then, “Joe Cannon knows better than to bring them here.”
The Angels of Morgan Hill (By Donna VanLiere) is a different kind of book then I usually read but I found it very hard to put down once I’d started it. Jane Gable, the main character, has just attended the funeral of her abusive and alcholic father, when a black family, the first to ever move to the area, arrive. They are a family of four and amoug the two children is Milo, who Jane likes the moment she meets him. The year is 1947 and there is alot of unhappy people about the family moving here. But then tragedy strikes the Turner household. A terrible fire burns their house to the ground and kills Milo’s parents and little sister. As her dying wish, Milo’s mother asks Jane’s mother if she would take care of her son. Jane’s already pregnant mother is asked to make a decision that could change their lives forever. One path might open up a whole new world and bring them closer than ever. The other could bring them nothing but trouble and heartache. I thought the book was excellent, very well writen, and it had me fixed until the end. It is a sad topic racism but the book has a powerful message and it leaves you feeling happy at the end. I recommend to everyone.
February 27th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
wow , this sounds like a really great book! do the two families become friends??