ANGEL SQUARE

by Brian Doyle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1986

In a rough, multi-ethnic neighborhood in post-WW II Ottawa, Tommy tries to discover who assaulted the father of his best friend, Sammy. Angel Square, a no man's land surrounded by three schools--two Catholic schools attended by French Canadians (Pea Soups) and Irish (Dogans), and the public school where Jewish children are in the majority--is the site of continual combat and temporary alliances, all cheerfully narrated and exaggerated by Tommy, who has friends in all camps. But the attack on Mr. Rosenberg is clearly not a humorous boys' game. As Christmas draws near, Tommy and his friends expose the culprit and glimpse the evil that propels him (he's fascinated by virulent hate-inspired comics); and Tommy offers up his first real prayer--for a time without prejudice, gangs, or the torment people visit on one another. Tommy is a clear-seeing problem-solver, tender with his retarded elder sister, ironically sensible with a dreadful teacher whose notion of education is sorting out malformed sentences, fair-minded in the face of unenlightened prejudice. Other characters are deftly sketched, although prim, conventional Aunt Dottie is a gratuitous bit of misogyny. Doyle gives us, in Tommy's voice, a spare, powerful style marked by repetitions that serve both to emphasize and to reflect his ingenuous youth, and, in Angel Square, a metaphor for the obstacles to that elusive goal, peace on earth.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1986

ISBN: 0888996098

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Bradbury/Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1986

Categories: CHILDREN'S