Saffy's Angel

Format:	Paperback 224 pages

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Synopsis

After Saffron Casson discovers that she's adopted, life is never quite the same again. Her artistic parents and doting siblings adore her, but Saffy wants a piece of her past. So when her grandfather bequests a stone angel to her, Saffy knows she has to find it. Realising that her childhood in Siena holds the key, she secretly stows away on a car trip to Siena, with her new friend, Sarah. Meanwhile, the rest of her family are engaged in their own wacky projects. Caddy, a hopeless student, is studying for her A Levels and desperately trying to pass her driving test. Indigo, the sole boy of the Casson family, is determined to rid himself of this fear of heights. And the youngest, Rose, a budding artist, has a knack for baiting her pompous dad, with entertaining results...

Book details

Published
13/06/2002

Publisher
Hodder Children's Books

ISBN
9780340850800

Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

'Quirky and curious ... unforgettable. The central characters are strong, lovable - and unique.' -- Nic Knight, THE BOOKSELLER 'A real feel-good novel, McKay treats us once again to one of her brilliantly characterised families. This is a really lovely book.' -- THE BOOKSELLER 'A funny, exuberant story.' -- CAROUSEL ' ...tale that is both funny and touching.' -- The Guardian 20011128 'Hilary McKay excels in conveying the anarchic bedlam of family life ...deserves to be placed alongside such classics as Little Women and The Railway Children.' -- TES Primary 20011201 'Saffy's Angel is a delight from start to finish ... a great feel-good book with characters you want to stay with for ever. Warm, beautifully crafted and always original, it's pure fun - a book to recommend without hesitation.' -- Whitbread Judges, as reported in Daily Mail 20030310

UK Kirkus review

Saffron is part of a happy, artistic family engrossed in their own individual madcap projects, although they have a comfortable knack of working together when it really matters. Even their names are strange, all, except hers, inspired by a colourful paint chart on the kitchen wall. Indigo, the only boy in the family, is beset by anxieties, which he controls by writing his problems down in a list. Rose, the youngest, has a talent for getting people to do as she wants. Cadmium is 18, the eldest of them all, and madly in love with her gorgeous driving instructor. And Saffy? Well, Saffy is embarking on her own adventure - her search for a stone angel that she remembers from a dream. What does it mean and will her zany family help her work it out? The author, Hilary McKay, is also the winner of the Guardian Award and the Smarties Prize for her books The Exiles and The Exiles at Home. Saffys Angel is another wonderfully engaging story. The problems and fears of younger and older children are cleverly captured, revealed and turned into misunderstandings, outlandish ideas and terrific adventures. It is extremely entertaining, yet there is a serious thread running through. Saffy finds that her name is not on the colour chart because she is adopted. When her grandfather dies, her own adventure begins and his shaky handwritten note to her sends her back to her birthplace in Italy. But will she find the angel he speaks of? (Kirkus UK)