I didn’t throw it away. Why? For the same reasons that I make a wish before I blow out my birthday candles, and look into the sky for the first evening star, and pull extra hard on the wishbone. Because, deep inside, like a Scandinavian craving caffeine, I craved change. I had been living a quiet life in the mundane middle, hidden in my two friends’ shadows, but that wouldn’t work much longer. When they left Nordby to pursue their dreams, I’d become visible, exposed for what I was – nothing at all (p 52).
Coffeehouse Angel, like its narrator, is sweet with some unexpected strengths revealed through several missteps.
The story begins with Katrina noticing an apparently homeless teen sleeping in the alleyway behind the coffeehouse her grandmother owns. It’s the place where Katrina has always worked and how her classmates identify her – as Coffeehouse Girl.
But Malcolm is no ordinary vagabond. He’s a messenger angel, though Katrina is hard put to believe it. But through a series of mishaps as Malcolm attempts to grant Katrina her deepest desire as a reward for her unselfish generosity toward him, she begins to see the etherial truth.
Thrown into the mix are Vincent, Katrina’s best guy friend and swimming champion, and Elizabeth, artist extraordinaire. There is some romantic confusion surrounding Vincent and perhaps some jealousy regarding Elizabeth, and it takes Katrina some time and some self-deprecation to work through. But she does and the result is a girl realized, not a damsel in distress. Woo hoo!
SLJ described the adults as “often pliable, unrealistic, homophobic, or otherwise inappropriate†but welcome to small town America. This book is not without its charm, it’s highly readable, and without drugs, sex and violence, but still appropriate for the high school crowd. Definitely light chick-lit reading.
Read other reviews at: Confessions of a Book Addict and Karin’s Book Nook.
If you enjoy this book, I’d recommend:
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