Title: Angel In My Pocket
Author: Ilene Cooper [website] [facebook]
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends Publishing
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: theft, bullying, divorce, death
Teachable Moments: bullying, body image, self-esteem, teamwork, abandonment

“Then, in what seemed a blink of an eye, it was opening night.  Everyone involved seemed aware that he or she was a cog in a moving machine.  It was going to take all of them aware it was going to take all of them, working together, to make the shows everything they should be.  Months of work distilled into three performances.”

Summary (from the publisher):
When Bette finds an angel coin among the money collected in a car wash, she puts it in her pocket and forgets about it.  But things start to change, especially once Gabbi, a mysterious and kind new neighbor, moves into Bette’s building.  Suddenly, Bette is able to face some big losses — her mother’s recent death, her sister’s departure for college — and move forward.  And once the coin falls into the hands of three other kids in Bette’s class, their lives change, too.  Soon, these two girls and two boys will be connected in ways that open them up to unlikely friendships and new ways to believe in themselves.

Opinion:
Angel In My Pocket is a middle-grade delight.  Focused on four different children who attend a local Chicago school for the performing arts the story centralizes on the changes in their life that occur when each comes into possession of an old coin.  The coin, adorned with a picture of an angel on it, is thought to bring good luck to it’s holder.

Of the four stories told, Joe’s was my favorite.  As the class bully he was pegged an outcast from the start.  A neighborhood kid sent to this special school without the benefit of a specific artistic ability he was never able to form solid friendships amongst his classmates.  Troubles at home (poverty, his mother’s illness, his father’s abandonment) only exacerbated his discontent thus making him a bit of a bully. It was a vicious circle until he came into possession of the angel coin.  With that in his pocket the tides turned and he became a scenery designer for a production, fell under the tutelage of a solid male role model and was able to accept his mother’s strengths and weaknesses as well as her new boyfriend.  He was surly, but endearing and was certainly a character that I found to be root-worthy despite his frequent bad behavior.

My least favorite of the four stories was the first, that of Bette.  It’s not that I didn’t feel for her situation — her mother’s passing had sent her family into a tailspin.  Alone most of the time while her father is managing a Jazz club and her sister is off at college she struggles with leading a life that requires her to act beyond her age.  Her father does try to infuse some female companionship into her life but she struggles against it.  Only for a short time though, she quickly overcomes her discontent with the new woman and is lead to a happier place at both home and school.  I couldn’t quite connect with Bette I felt a bit of an ambivalence towards her until much later in the story.  I was glad hers was the story that was shortest and had the least focus.

The last story of the book, Andy and Vivi’s, was as enjoyable as Joe’s.  Sharing a bond of support these twins both had independent issues to deal with — he needed to overcome Joe’s bullying and she needed to accept and manage the changes in her life and appearance as a result of her asthma.  It was a struggle for both but with firm and loving parents, and the help of the lucky coin, each came to a positive place in their lives.

Cooper did a fantastic job transitioning between (and at times infusing) the three separate stories.  The use of the coin as the way to move around each and bring the group of characters together was an wise choice and one that will allow young readers to follow along easily.  Written with equal focus on prose and dialogue the story moved quickly and outside of a slower start I didn’t feel like I struggled through it at any point.

Filled with strong values there are many lessons to be learned from Angel in My Pocket.  Told with a light hand, a child could walk away having a better idea about issues related to body image, dealing with abandonment and death, as well as how to relate to their peers and the adults around them.  I also believe this to be a good book for the classroom as it has ample opportunity to encourage discussion.