I really love this book, it has a very vague meaning and moral, but a very very heartwarming storyline :)

"Magic is found in the most ordinary acts of kindness."

The Unfinished Angel is such a touching, sweet, innocent and funny book. It's such a light and uplifting read that just gives you "happy feels" all throughout the book. It's nice to take a break from all the cheesy, romantic, and thrilling books and just read a book like The Unfinished Angel. ( )

sweet, told by an angel, funny and cute

I'm dropping the stars on this. It is cute, but I found it in my books as already read and didn't remember it. I read the whole thing a second time and never was my memory sparked. That is unusual. I think this cover is pretty terrible. I saw another cover when looking at all the different editions it was more inviting, but didn't represent the book very well. ( )

An unusual tale told from the perspective of an innocent (and seemingly young) angel in the stone tower of an ancient villa in the Swiss Alps, award-winning author Creech expresses the joy and sorrow of the experiences of the humans the angel snoops on as they go about their daily business. Told with the simple and sometimes confused language of someone who is an inexperienced speaker of English, readers will find the unlikely protagonist hilarious and endearing. A myriad of colorful characters pepper the curious plot as the angel develops an unlikely friendship with young Zola, a new arrival who seems to be the first person to recognize the angel’s existence. An easy read with short chapters, this coming-of-age fantasy tale will lend itself towards a discussion of the importance of ordinary acts of kindness in the lives of those who are misunderstood or who have little available to them in life. ( )

There are so few books that have touched me deeply enough that I couldn't imagine my life without having read them: The Alchemist, The Little Prince, The Graveyard Book. And now, I add to that list The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech.

The story is simple. It goes like this: an angel lives in a tower in a small village in the Swiss Alps. This angel, he isn't sure what his purpose is. "Me, I am an angel. I am supposed to be having all the words in all the languages, but I am not. Many are missing. I am also not having a special assignment. I think I did not get all the training. . . . Do the other angels know what they are doing? Am I the only confused one? Maybe I am unfinished, an unfinished angel."

This angel watches over the people of this little village, and then one day, an American family comes to live in the house attached to his tower. Zola, a young girl vibrant with life and colors—she wears three different colored skirts and numerous bright ribbons at the same time—meets angel and actually sees him. Thus begins an unlikely friendship between a vivacious girl and a grumpy angel.

Though the events of the story are ordinary, there is an uncommon grace and elegance to the prose, even with an angel narrator that cannot speak English properly and often fuses words. ("Zola smills, smuggles, what is the word? What is it, that word for happy teeth??") But more than that, the beauty of the story outshines any I have read in a long while.

Through often misguided efforts, angel watches over his town and his "peoples." By the end of the book, angel realizes he has a purpose, and we recognize the goodness that there is in the world and the hearts of the people who populate it.

"I am feeling most hopeful watching these peoples. I don't know what to say about this feeling. I don't eat food, but if I did, maybe it is as if I were hungry, so hungry, and I didn't even know it, and then I found a mountain of food and I ate and ate, and then I sat back contentful and there was still more mountain for the next day and the next day. Maybe it is like that. I don't know. Since I don't eat food, it is hard to say."

After reading this striking story, I am feeling contentful as well.

In conclusion, this mesmerizing story is one that will become a classic, and I would not be too far off in saying I see this as a strong contender for the Newberry. Every child, every adult should become friends with this unfinished angel and let him help you become more of a finished person.

P.S. I have serious issues with the book's cover design. Had I not read a review of the book previous to buying it, I would most likely have passed it over. ( )