A child's journey from abandonment to happiness through friendship with a little help from an angel.
This is a beautifully-presented story of a small child, Sadie. It relates her journey from abandonment through a series of challenges to happiness, thanks in part to the kindness of strangers - of whom the most important is Myla, her guardian angel - and in part to her own innocent honesty. Sadie never loses sight of the values of trust, kindness and care for others despite the ill-treatment she herself experienced from birth. The story is simply written, as though a child had produced it, and the naif, coloured drawings are perfect. This is as much a morality story as a fairy tale, and it celebrates the triumph of goodness over meanness, of hope over despair and of trust over fear. Sadie faces real and difficult challenges in trying to cope with a generally hostile world and she comes through, having learned to love herself for herself, with Myla's help. It is an uplifting story, very well-paced, which holds the reader's attention until the (happy) end.
It's a surprisingly powerful book which tackles serious issues head on, yet is lit with optimism as the heroine discovers the value of friendship. I have bought one copy for my nine year old granddaughter, and one for her friend.