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The Belief in Angels is a YA/Coming of Age novel by J. Dylan Yates
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*** 2015 IPPY AWARD WINNER
*** 2014 USA BEST BOOK AWARD FINALIST
THE BELIEF IN Angels is a raw, haunting coming-of-age novel that explores the darkest side of human nature–and the incontrovertible, uplifting power of hope.
Growing up in her parents’ crazy hippie household on a tiny island off the coast of Boston, Jules Finn’s imaginative sense of humor is the weapon she wields as a defense against the chaos of her family’s household. Somewhere between routine discipline with horsewhips, gun-waving gambling debt collectors, and LSD-laced breakfast cereal adventures, tragedy strikes a blow from which Jules may never recover. This adversity requires her to find the will to live despite the suffering in her life–and she encounters, in her darkest moment, what could be explained as serendipity or divine intervention. For Jules, a courageous, young girl, this experience offers the hope she needs in order to rescue her fractured life.
*** 2015 KINDLE BOOK AWARD FINALIST
*** 2015 LEAPFROG PRESS BOOK AWARD HONORABLE MENTION
A Word from the Author
The inspiration for THE BELIEF IN Angels came from an assortment of influences including the American lyric poet, Sara Teasdale, the music of Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell, my work with Voices For Children, and Dalia Ofer’s, book, Escaping the Holocaust: Illegal Immigration to the Land of Isreal, 1939-1944. In addition, my mother’s struggle to identify her biological family and my grandfather’s reluctance to discuss his childhood were both motivating factors in developing a story around a family who hold secrets. The devastating result of those decisions on the resulting generations of family members is a topic that has personally motivated me to try to create change through a variety of artistic endeavors–theater, writing. The mirror is sometimes our best teacher. The epigenetics of generational sorrow and survival are also intriguing topics that inspired and impelled the creation of THE BELIEF IN Angels. It’s my most fervent hope that our next generations will learn from the past to build a future of hope, strength and love.
(J. Dylan Yates, June 2016)
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