![]() ![]() Cooper's introspective novel gently circles around themes of overcoming pain and applying one's talents. When a school musical and several unexpected visitors draw them out, they are given the chance to recover and shine. All four seventh-graders are artistic, yet are bogged down by self-pity and pain. Finally, fraternal twins Vivi and Andy, also from Bette's school, receive the talisman. Then Bette's hostile classmate, Joe, who is dealing with economic stress at home, steals the coin, and the luck seems to transfer to him. ![]() Soon after, things take a turn for the better. Bette is grieving over her mother's death and her sister's recent departure for college ("n the part of her where belief might have been there was only a void") when she finds a coin with an angel on it. Cooper (The Golden Rule) composes a quiet story set in Chicago that leavens the realistic problems of four near-teenagers with a hint of magic. ![]()
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