Skellig

Skellig is a magic realism young adult novel about a family who moves into a new home, and the children discover what appears to be an angel living in the shed. The angel’s a mess: dirty and slowly starving, living on insects and mice, and spitting up what appears to be owl pellets.

No, this is not your traditional, squeaky clean, radiant angel. He’s much better.

When the parents decide to clean out the shed, the kids move him to a safer place where he can continue to get stronger. He starts flying out of the attic where they’ve moved him at night.

He appears to be helpless, relying more on the kids than able to fend for himself or having any kind of magic. Eventually, though the kids’ baby sister becomes sick, and Skellig visits her in the hospital. He apparently heals her, although he denies it, saying that the baby has more magic, more power than he does.

Finally, there is a scene where Skellig and the kids share a magical moment floating, and then the angel disappears from their lives.