THE SUMMER OF HAMMERS AND ANGELS

Angels in the form of members of the First Congregational Church of Christ come to Delia Burns' rescue after lightning strikes her house, leaving her mother in a coma and Delia trying to do the long list of repairs left by the inspector who has condemned her home.

Set in Tucker's Ferry, W.V., this idealized picture of small-town cooperation recalls a simpler time. There are no electronic devices beyond the television in the corner of her mother's hospital room and no chain stores with computerized inventories. There is also little supervision of the children: hard-working, resourceful Delia, her flighty friend, Mae, and mean Tommy Parker, who turns out to be both helpful and handy with tools. Delia’s age is never given, but the first-person narration reflects her innocence and naïveté. Thanks to summer Bible camp she knows something about religion. She wonders about the efficacy of prayer and the existence of angels. She hasn't gone regularly to church like the Parkers, neighbors who take her in after the lightning strike, but her conversion is swift. After two weeks of porch carpentry, ivy-pulling and screen-mending, she’s ready to ask for help, which arrives in true feel-good fashion.

The heartwarming conclusion is an unlikely miracle, but it is entirely in keeping with the flavor of this nostalgic story, which will leave readers hungry for fried chicken and Coke from glass bottles.