“Me, I am an angel. I am supposed to be having all the words in all the languages, but I am not. Many are missing. I am also not having a special assignment. I think I did not get all the training.” The uncertain angel living in the tower of Casa Rosa, a Swiss villa, is a bit put out when Mr. Pomodoro and his daughter, Zola, arrive from America. Zola, it turns out, can see the angel, and Zola is full of ideas of what angels are like and what angels are supposed to do. So when Zola discovers that some orphans are living in an old barn nearby, she assumes the angel can make sure the children are taken care of. After the first attempt to help the children backfires, the angel ends up hiding them—with Zola’s help—in Casa Rosa. Meanwhile, the children’s thievery—they were stealing to survive— has heightened tensions between neighbors in the small village where Casa Rosa is located, and the angel, who finds people very confusing, is at wits’ end trying to work things out. Sharon Creech’s charming story has tender notions and a happy ending sure to satisfy, along with a singular, sweetly funny character (“I am all downside up”) who offers many astute observations. (Ages 8–11)

Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech crafts a truly endearing story, one that is imbued with happiness, wonder, and an appreciation for all the little things that make life big. With beautiful, fresh new cover art, this is a gem of a book.

In the winding stone tower of the Casa Rosa, in a quiet little village in the Swiss Alps, lives one very unlikely angel—one that is still awaiting her instructions from the angel-training center. What happens to an angel who doesn't know her mission? She floats and swishes from high above, watching the crazy things that "peoples" say and do. But when a zany American girl named Zola arrives in town and invades the Casa Rosa, dogs start arfing, figs start flying through the air, lost orphans wander in, and the village becomes anything but quiet. And as Zola and the angel work together to rescue the orphans, they each begin to realize their purpose and learn that there is magic in the most ordinary acts of kindness.

One unfinished angel, a zany girl with a mission, and a gaggle of lost orphans are about to turn a quiet Swiss village completely upside down.

• Magical Realism for Kids: Meet an angel who lives in a stone tower, watches the crazy things "peoples" do, and has no idea what her mission is supposed to be.
• An Unlikely Friendship: When a determined American girl named Zola arrives, she decides the confused angel is her new partner-in-crime—whether the angel likes it or not.
• Found Family: A group of lost, hungry orphans wander into town, and it’s up to an angel and a girl to convince a whole village of grumpy grown-ups to help.
• Heartwarming Humor: Laugh out loud at the angel’s unique view of the world in a story that proves the biggest magic is found in the smallest acts of kindness.