7.8 /10 1 Votes
Language English Publication date 2003 ISBN 978-0439443852 Page count 127 Followed by Green Witch | 3.9/5 Goodreads Publisher Scholastic Press Pages 127 Originally published 2003 Genre Young adult fiction Illustrator Matt Mahurin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Alice Hoffman books, Young adult fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Green angel by alice hoffman reading 1
Green Angel is a 2003 post-apocalyptic young adult novel written by Alice Hoffman. It tells the story of a girl's isolation, suffering and gradual recovery after her family dies in a catastrophic fire. It has elements of magic realism and dystopian fiction. It was followed by a sequel, Green Witch, in 2010, and a compilation of both novels, which was then followed by Green Heart, in 2012 .
Contents
Plot summary
Green is a quiet and shy 15-year-old girl. She lives with her mother, father, and beautiful younger sister Aurora, in a house on the city's green outskirts. While her sister is wild, charming and impatient, Green is timid and reserved, and has the infinite patience required to tend to the family garden. After mastering the art of tending the garden, she becomes the garden's main caretaker.
One day, her family goes to the city to sell produce, leaving Green behind. There, her family perishes as a result of a conflagration in the city, believed to be done by a secretive, malevolent group of people (also widely assumed to be the events of 9/11). Many people in the city die that day, leaving behind orphans and heartbroken survivors. Ashes from the fire make Green half-blind and singes her hair, forcing her to cut her hair off. Green, deeply sorrowed, changes her appearance and personality and renames herself Ash as she decides to destroy her past to cover the internal pain she is suffering. She tattoos almost her entire body with black roses, vines and bats, continuing to suffer but growing indifferent toward her pain.
Over time as she takes care of herself, through interactions with several kinds of animals that dote on her, a silent boy she calls Diamond, and a kind old neighbor, Green starts to heal from her pain. As she grows, she finds her leaf and stem tattoos turning green and the rosebuds turning red. Finally, on her 16th birthday, she is no longer Ash, as she once used to be, but is once again Green, finding the taste of summer and apples within her. Now, after her recovery, she is strong enough to tell her family’s tragic story. she is an example for all those who are going through that.
Characters in "Green Angel"
Green has long dark hair, and describes herself as preferring plants and stones to people. She tends to the family garden and she doesn't appreciate herself and knows the medical uses for many plants.To mask her pain, she assumes a new identity as Ash, cutting off her hair, wearing a scarf of thorns, a heavy jacket, and her father's nail-studded boots. She often tattoos herself with needles and ink. Eventually, her entire body is covered in black roses, vines, ravens, etc. When her old neighbor tells her to look closer, she discovers the ink is actually green. The tattoos begin to change color as she grows and heals from her pain, the flowers becoming as they were in her dreams. The half-heart near her own heart turns red at the center.