Angels Next Door

Riley's neighbour and best-friend-forever Tia has always been the cool one, the confident one, the pretty one. School would be a scary place without her with the likes of nasty girl Lauren about. So when Tia moves away Riley is bereft. There's no way she is interested in meeting whoever moves into the house next door, even if her teeny step-sister claims that they are angels. But Sunshine, Pearl and Kitt are unlike anybody else, they dress different and act strangely and since they joined Riley's class life has become a bit of a rollercoaster.

This perfectly pitched pre-teen story touches on some bigger issues, but the gentle warmth added through its angelic spin keeps the whole thing lighter than a feather from a shimmering wing. Riley's life houses a lot of heartache, which makes it genuinely refreshing to see her co-operate with a non-evil stepmother and grieve a missing mother without melodrama. What makes the story really sing is its ultimate message of self-worth and independence: even in the company of angels every little girl should shine.