by Sharon Creech
ages: 8+
First sentence: “Peoples are strange!”
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Some books stick in your mind because they have a brilliant plot. Some because they have created a fabulous world. Others because they have great characters, ones that you want to take home to your mother.

And others, still, because the voice — the way the narrator speaks to you, as a reader — is so unique, so endearing, that you can’t help but love the book.

The voice of Angel, the title character in this sweet little book, is wonderful. It’s not just the word choices that Creech uses, though that is a lot of it. Some of the words that just endeared me to Angel: peoplealities, surprisements, mishmaseroni, glompsing (I really love this one!), struddles. How can you not love a character who uses words like that? But if it was just a sprinkling of fun words throughout the book, it probably would have been more annoying than endearing. No, it was everything about Angel: from his/her irritation with yet love for the people in her (I’m not sure if it was a his or a her, but it felt like a her to me…) Swiss/Italian village, to Angel’s gradual acceptance of the crazy American girl — Zola, who is just extramarkable — and the village’s slow awakening to the sense of community.

Sure, I got all of that out of this as an adult, but I think what kids will see, and probably come to love, is Angel. It’s such an endearing character, and a captivating voice that it will keep practically anyone turning pages. The rest is just frosting.