Kirkus Reviews QR Code
ADRIANA'S ANGELS by Ruth  Goring

ADRIANA'S ANGELS

by Ruth Goring ; illustrated by Erika Meza

Pub Date: Sept. 12th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5064-1832-2
Publisher: Sparkhouse

Two guardian angels keep watch over a young girl both in her native Colombia and in her new home in Chicago.

The 1990s saw the South American country of Colombia reach a level of insecurity that forced many of its rural citizens to flee to safety either to the major cities or abroad. One such family found refuge in the U.S. city of Chicago. It is this family, and more specifically their young daughter, Adriana, that inspired this book. The story does not give much information on Colombia or on Adriana’s family, though, choosing instead to focus on the religious aspect of a loving God and the guardian angels sent to act on his behalf. In vibrant, warm colors the illustrations depict a brown-skinned girl with beautiful long black hair going about her life in Colombia, always under the watchful eye of two guardian angels with exuberantly colored wings. Later, as the family moves to Chicago and the color palette changes to a drab gray-and-tan one, the two guardian angels are still there to help her overcome the sadness she feels. The result is sweet, but the device of the angels keeps the story from connecting today’s readers with the very real children like Adriana. This book is also available in Spanish as Los Ángeles de Adriana.

A missed opportunity to address the important, and very current, topic of refugees and asylum seekers.

(author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)