There are only two things Jelly likes about the new house on Rosemary Street: the old apricot tree and the creek over the back fence.

One night, Jelly and her cousins spot something in the creek’s dark waters. At first they think it’s a bird, but it isn’t…it’s a baby angel with a broken wing. And they decide to keep it.

But soon things start to go wrong, and Jelly discovers that you can’t just take something from where it belongs and expect that it won’t be missed.

Sally Rippin’s Angel Creek is a book about being brave and selfish and tough and scared. It’s a book about an angel, about growing up. And about the amazing things that happen in the summer before high school begins.

“Hideaways, rescues, broken rules, and a girl who must protect something fragile and precious and out of this world…I loved this book.” Martine Murray

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“The angel in Sally Rippin's latest book is not the angel of current popular culture imaginings. While an entirely original creation, it's closer to David Almond's eerie Skellig than to the mass-produced, cookie-cutter angels that are pouring out of so many mediocre writers. Rippin's angel is a mangy, feral being, wild and inarticulate, yet somehow beautiful.

Jelly has just moved with her mother, father and Nonna from the outer to the inner suburbs, into a new house that backs on to the Merri Creek in Melbourne's north. She's to start at a new high school in the new year and is on the cusp of great change. Christmas should be a respite, but when she and her cousins Gino and Pik find an injured angel in the creek and decide to rescue and heal it, the pace of change accelerates.

Nonna is taken to hospital, Jelly and Gino confront the local bullies, Jelly feels the butterflies of potential adolescent love, and all the while she is looking after this wild creature, thinking about what she wishes for.

Although the angel is fantasy, the novel is otherwise entirely realistic. Jelly is a finely portrayed pre-teen, and Rippin is equally adept at capturing subterranean emotion as she is at creating authentic family relationships and writing evocative descriptions of place.

This novel for children in the middle to upper years of primary school (older readers will appreciate it too) is anything but feral, mangy or inarticulate - it is as beautiful and mysteriously magical as the angel."

                                                                                                        - Lorien Kaye, Saturday Age

“Jelly’s life is already full of complications and disappointments; she and her parents have moved to a new house, in an unfamiliar suburb, away from her best friends and old school, and then on Christmas Eve two things happen to make life even harder: Jelly and her two cousins discover an angel sitting in a creek bed and Jelly’s nonna is rushed to hospital. But Jelly discovers that finding the angel is one thing, deciding to keep it is another. The real surprise, however, is how skillfully Australian author Sally Rippin makes you believe that finding a wounded terrified angel is entirely plausible. The story artfully shows how Jelly inches away from childhood and glimpses some of the emotional complexities that lie ahead as she struggles with doing ‘what’s right’. If you enjoyed David Almond’s Skellig, you’ll love Angel Creek. A cracking read for seven-year-olds and up. Added bonus, the cover is stunning.”

                                                                                                - Frances Atkinson, Sunday Age

“This beautiful story, aimed at upper primary readers and beyond, has a Melbourne flavour.

Jelly is none too happy. Her family have moved to a new house. In her eyes, its only redeeming features are an apricot tree and the creek out the back.

On Christmas Eve, Jelly and her young cousins sneak over the back fence. In the creek they discover an injured angel. This story flows effortlessly between the supernatural and the everyday goings-on in Jelly’s life. Beyond its mystical elements, it touches on many issues relevant to children, such as relationships with grandparents, bullying and the transition to high school.

It is an exciting, scary and wondrous story.”

                                                                                     - Clare Kennedy, Saturday Herald Sun

“Angel Creek is a coming-of-age story with a twist—there are angels. Well, a baby angel, who has been injured and who seems to have the power to make things happen. Angelica, known as Jelly, has just moved house so that there’s room for her Nonna to live with them. Jelly is spending the summer holidays moping: she doesn’t want to start her new school, and now it’s Christmas Eve, so she has to put up with her young cousins visiting. They decide to investigate the creek nearby and discover the injured angel. Jelly has experience with injured birds and she insists they look after it. But her family life takes a turn for the worse when her Nonna is taken to hospital and Christmas is delayed. And the drama doesn’t stop there. Jelly is a great character, and I think lots of kids will be able to identify with her apprehension about the future, both in the prospect of an unknown school, and the illness of a grandparent. Her cousins bring a great element of humour to the story. Angel Creek is well told and perfect for girls in upper primary school and lower secondary school.”

                                                         - Jessica Broadbent, Junior Bookseller & Publisher

“There are some books that burst into life from the first few pages - and this is one. It’s set in Melbourne, in the Merri Creek vicinity (always an added bonus if you read a book featuring your hometown!) Jelly’s family have moved to accommodate her high school years and she isn’t happy about it. As her extended family gather to celebrate Christmas, Merri Creek beckons. The playing children see something bird-like struggling in the fast-moving water and on rescuing it, discover they have found an angel, seemingly young and with a broken wing. The adventures begin. Jelly is a sensitive and delightful creation and her maturing over the summer is a blossoming that readers will enjoy. This is a heart-warming story of family and friendship. Hopefully there will be a sequel, but in the meantime read Skellig by David Almond, another wonderful angel story with memorable characters. For ages nine and up.”

                                                                                                                            -Readings Monthly

“The days stretch out long and hot and restless, Year Seven lurks in a vaguely intimidating manner on the horizon, and the summer holidays just aren’t the same when you are ten suburbs away from all your friends and familiar surroundings, with only annoying boy cousins to hang out with. So Jelly spends a lot of her time in the branches of the apricot tree or down by the creek, the only good things about the crumbly old weatherboard that is the new house.

On Christmas Eve though, Jelly, Gino and Pik find a broken angel in the creek, and everything changes. This is lovely, just lovely. The characters are instantly likeable and perfectly formed, making it impossible not to care about scruffy little Pik, with his chewed nails and determination to keep up, or Nonna, with her velvety cheeks and wrinkled hands, fierce hugs and attitude. Jelly herself is easy to relate to, because while she is a down to earth, resourceful kid, she isn’t perfect. The tiny, clever details the angel is given makes it just as real as the other, human, characters, and very likeable, with the lack of the traditional, simpering angel stereotypes making this screechy, snarly, demanding (grape peeling) otherworldly creature a force to be reckoned with.

I think this would appeal to fans of Martine Murray’s The Slightly True Story of Ceder B Hartley, as the flavours are reminiscent, but still wholly original, and the story bounces tangibly out of the page. Absolutely delightful, I loved it.

                                                                                                              - Clare Hingston, Magpies

“There are only two things Jelly likes about her new house on Rosemary Street: the old apricot tree and the creek over the back fence’ and even though she is convinced she is ‘in the wrong garden in the wrong neighbourhood - perhaps even in the wrong family’, her new home is about to deliver some very startling surprises. It’s Christmas Eve and Jelly’s cousins, Gino and Pik, are visiting. She takes them to the creek where they see a ‘pearly smudge of white against the gloom’. Thinking it may be an injured bird, Jelly gets closer only to find it is an angel with a broken wing. At first they are scared, then decide they must do what they can to protect her, but shortly after making this decision, bad things begin to happen to Jelly’s family – her nonna falls ill, her cousin, baby Sophia, breaks out in a terrible rash and she and Gino have a fight like never before. It is only through working together that Jelly and Gino realise what is making these bad things happen and what they need to do to stop them. This is an intriguing story with characters who have a lot to learn and a small, fragile angel who is about to make that happen.”

                                                                                       -Deborah Abela, ABC Radio Canberra     

“A few weeks ago a copy of Angel Creek came into work so I grabbed it at once and started reading it on the tram home. It is such a sweet, gentle book. I loved it so much. The angel was perfect. I loved how it was so wild and animal like. It reminded me a little of Gabriel Garcia Marquez short story I read years ago about an angel that is dirty and wild and broken. I also loved the feeling of Jelly's house, particularly the garden, and how complete and alive her family felt even though the book is so wonderfully succinct.

The lovely thing was that it reminded me of when I was nine and had just moved to Brunswick from Fitzroy. We used to walk down to the creek as a family and sometimes I was allowed to ride my bike down by myself. I felt so grown up and sophisticated! The more I thought about that time the more I remembered things I haven't thought about in years. It was such a lovely trigger for reminiscing.”

                                                   - Cordelia Rice, Australian Centre For Youth Literature

“Angel Creek is a really beautiful exploration of a time of change for a young person – Jelly has had to move house and is facing her first year at high school when the summer is over. There's the story of the boy who drowned down the creek, the understanding that nonnas won't live forever and those butterflies when maybe, just maybe, you've got your first crush on a boy. All these extra flourishes give Jelly's story that little extra oomph. Exquisitely written, and exploring the loss of innocence, kindness, kinship and a certain kind of faith, this book is fantastical (but not fantasy, it’s firmly rooted in reality), effortlessly metaphorical and a little bit magic.”

                                                         -Kate O’Donnell, Younger Sun Children’s Bookstore

“Wow - what an amazing read! It took me right back into heart of being twelve. It is so beautifully magical, in that best grubby, sweaty, angel bad breath way. And it feels like some technical miracle that housed within such a 'simple' story, so many layers are so deftly 

folded. Jelly and all the other characters felt so real, so flawed and perfect, and the sense of place and season is sublime. It has that balance of heart/mind/humour that I love.”

                                                                - Fiona Wood, author of Six Impossible Things.

“What a beautiful, beautiful book. Sally Rippin has such a delightfully lyrical quality to her writing style, a cadence, that is best described as melodic. Angel Creek is no exception. It has just enough of everything…adventure, intrigue, a surprising (and refreshing) take on what angels might be like, friendship, heartache and lots of giggles.

Angel Creek, really does have it all in terms of choosing a subject to hook those junior reluctant readers and rest assured that boys will enjoy this little novel as much as girls will. For those who love to read and are always looking for something new, Angel Creek will be a lovely addition to their reading list.

Jelly, Gino and Pik are vibrant, warm characters that endear themselves to the reader right from the outset.There is a magical family dynamic in Angel Creek that reminded me of Melina Marchetta and Glenda Millard.

Teachers will adore Angel Creek. Rich with teaching possibilities, I was delighted by the frequency of Sally’s use of similes, something not often seen these days. Angel Creek has many moral issues that lend themselves to valuable classroom discussions, and at the very least, will get your students thinking about the factors that determine when is something right and when is something wrong. Shared reading of Angel Creek could lead to discussions of environment, family, friendship, love and belief systems.

In short, I LOVED it. And so will you.”

                                                                                              -Tye Cattanach, The Book Gryffin

“I fell in love with this Melbourne based tale set around Merri Creek.  Over Christmas one dark night Jelly and her younger cousins come across a bedraggled creature caught in the creek. It has beautiful white wings, one crumpled and broken.  They soon realise that this tiny creature is a baby angel, but like no angel from fairytales, it is wild and fierce. Their first impulse is to keep it hiding it from a wild gang of boys, however they all soon realise that some things are not meant to be taken and as violent storms tear through their street, and their beloved Nonna falls ill, that there will be repercussions for taking something wild and magical.  It’s a fabulous book about growing up, being brave and making decisions despite the cost.  Just lovely for ages 9-12 years.”

                                                                                         - Nicole Maher, Great Escape Books

“Recommended. Jelly is not happy when her parents buy a new house so that she can go to high school. The only things that she likes are the apricot tree, which she has made her secret place, and Angel Creek, which flows behind her house. One night she and her cousins Gino and Pik are exploring the dark waters of the creek when they find a strange creature with an injured wing. It's a baby angel and they decide to keep it. But this strange, feral little thing that ferociously attaches itself to Jelly is not like a baby bird that needs mending, and somewhere there must be a mother.
With a compelling mixture of reality and fantasy, Angel Creek was such a fascinating story that I read it in one sitting. Rippin's picture of family life was one that rang true. It was easy to imagine the jealousy that Gino felt when the little angel attached itself to Jelly, and the contrast between Jelly's lovely relationship with her father and Gino's less than perfect one added a level to the family relations.
It is also a coming of age story. Jelly is a brave girl who can stand up against the bullying teenage boys on their bikes. She also begins to realise that her actions have repercussions. Like a bird that has recovered from its injuries, the little angel must be returned to its home and Jelly has to find a way to do that. She also discovers that change is inevitable. Her grandmother won't live forever and she can make new friends in her neighbourhood. The slight touch of romance with the boy who has helped her will appeal to young readers.
I love books about angels and I thoroughly enjoyed Angel Creek. Rippin's story has a unique take on angels and their origins and this story of a baby creek angel is fascinating and original. Readers who enjoyed this story might like to move onto the more complex Skellig by David Almond or Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech, and Waterslain Angels by Kevin Crossley-Holland.”
                                                                                                               - Pat Pledger, Read Plus

“I've just finished reading Victorian author Sally Rippin's enchanting Angel Creek. It was such a fresh, original idea I found myself doing a double-take as I walked past the rain-swollen creek near my home recently, eyes searching the waters for any errant angels that might be stuck in the swirling waters, wings waterlogged and wedged between rocks.

Angel Creek is the story of Jelly (short for Angelica) and her cousins Gino and Pik, who happen upon a half-drowned baby angel in the Merri Creek near her home one Christmas.

But this angel is no chubby cherub with a harp, but a gangly, bird-like creature that clings to Jelly with a fierceness and favouritism that inspires jealously and rivalry among the children.

It's a mystery, certainly, about where and how the angel came to be in the creek, but it's also a story about growing up, about family and, above all, about change.

The children save the angel from drowning in the creek, but in doing so they're faced with the even greater responsibility of caring for it, nursing it back to health and hiding it from the neighbourhood bullies.

Rippin does a wonderful job of jumping into the shoes of a young tween on the cusp of womanhood and high school, uprooted from friends and her old school, and experiencing all the self-doubt and dawning realisations that come with puberty.

For me Angel Creek also recalled summers past when Australian children really could play down at the creek without fear and make all kinds of wondrous discoveries - but I never ever found an angel. Maybe I should start looking a little harder...”

                                                                                            - Rebecca Lang, Author, Author

“I just wanted to tell you that my 9 year old niece, Taya, started reading her signed copy of Angel Creek on the train and kept reading all night at a family birthday gathering, only taking a break to eat her dinner. She read right to the end and when her mother asked 'how many out of ten' she said, emphatically, 10 out of 10! So thank you - what a lovely experience.” Clare Strahan

“I came to your book launch on Saturday with my aunty Clare. I started reading it but I couldn’t stop so I read it in a night. Things I liked a lot, the characters names are cool,

how the angels like a wishing thing, how its dark and creepy and how the angel loves Jelly.

I rate this book 10/10. I want to read it again.” Taya, aged 9  

“I absolutely loved the book. Once I began reading it I got stuck to it. I would rate it 10 out of 10!... This book is a thrilling adventure...” Thy, grade 6

“I think it is perfect!” Alex, grade 6

“I really liked the story. I think the angel is cool.” Naomi, grade 5

“My favourite character was Pik. I liked him the best because he was funny, he always gets into trouble. He reminds me of my youngest brother.” Greta, grade 6

“I think the story was teaching us to be careful what we wish for.” Kirsten, grade 5

“I like how there is an angel and there is a mystery.” Sara, grade 3

“I like Angel Creek because of the excitement and spookiness.” Asuini, grade 3

“The story is set in a nice place and seems like a place where things out of the ordinary would happen.” Joanna, grade 6

“There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about the book. I liked everything about it.” Elicia,

grade 6

“Surprisingly good - for a book about girls’ stuff.” Max, aged 11

                                                       

                                           

                                                                                                        Author photograph - Antony Hankin