SOLVED. 1980s (ish) Middle Grade/ YA Urban Fantasy about a boy protagonist who creates a clunky angel sculpture that comes to life > Likes and Comments
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I seem to remember that the book's cover image was dark--maybe predominantly dark grays, greens, browns. Can't remember the image itself, though (alas).
Thank you! I do believe that’s the one. If so, I managed to misremember quite a few important details. Just bought a copy online, so fingers crossed.
That was indeed the book. Thank you, Rainbowheart!
Middle-Grade or YA
Urban fantasy (though I don't think that term existed at the time the book was published).
Country of Publication: United States
Language: English (at least, that's what I read it in and I suspect that was the original language)
I read this book in the 1980s or early 1990s. Most likely it was the mid- to late 1980s.
Note: This book is NOT Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree. I tried a bunch of AI searches before posting this, and when the AI weren't hallucinating, they kept suggesting The Halloween Tree.
As I remember it, the book’s mood was often ominous, even quietly menacing.
As best I can remember, the book was set in a large U.S. city, probably New York City. I think the setting was roughly contemporary with the book's publication.
The protagonist was a youngish boy, maybe 10 years old. For reasons that might have involved Halloween, he found or created a statute of an angel. I think the sculpture was made from odds and ends, and I seem to remember that a barrel featured prominently in its composition.
The angel sculpture came to life and became an important character and motive force in the book. I think the protagonist had to conceal it from his parents (caregivers?). The angel might have been named "Mike" or "Michael" (possibly after the archangel).
I also think (?) that at some point a Frankenstein's monster-ish sculpture came to life and may have been named "Frank."
This was a physical book (paperback, I think) found in a brick and mortar bookstore in the U.S. I vaguely recollect that it was published by Scholastic, but I could easily be wrong on that point.
I think the author had a male name, though I could also be wrong about that.