Book 6 for 2005

Skellig by David Almond; © 1998, 182 p., Delacorte Press.

This is a juvenile fiction book that Jennie selected for our book club to read. It is a story about a boy, Michael, whose family moves to a new house and his new baby sister is very ill. As he adapts and adjusts to being in a new house and not knowing whether his sister will live or die, Michael discovers a strange creature living in their decrepit garage. It is a man who is very sick and dirty and has strage bulges under his coat, just at his shoulder blades. Michael introduces his new friend Mina to the strange man and together they are able to bring him back to health. They discover his name is Skellig and those strange protrusions are actually wings. The story has a somewhat hopeful and uplifting ending for most who read it.

I personally did not enjoy reading this book. It brought up too many painful memories for me from the time when I lost my baby brother. I also found it difficult to place the ages of Michael and Mina; at times I thought they were in 4th grade, and at others I thought they were sophisticated enough to be 7th graders. The author has a fascination with William Blake which I thought was a little overdone, and the idea of angels living among us doesn't do much for me because it is not an important aspect of my theology. My strong opinions of this book should not discourage others from reading it, however. It has been on the NY Times best seller lists for children for quite some time, and I think my reaction to the book is the exception rather than the norm. If you enjoy fanciful stories that deal with adversity and have hopeful and uplifting endings, then this is a book for you.