A really odd, unclassifiable book. This falls into the same category as The Underneath by Kathi Appelt---I love it because it's so overly ambitious and pretentious, and it actually manages to live up to what it attempts.

To write about a young boy who discovers a dusty creature that may be an angel, a beast, or an evolved human in his dilapidated old garage requires the maintenance of a certain mood or atmosphere, and I'm amazed that Almond stayed true to that magical atmosphere the entire book. With an intriguing homeschooled neighbor who compulsively quotes William Blake, a mysterious ailment involving a baby sister, and a main character who is losing his interest in football and his old friends, the somber, beautiful, and timeless tone of the book is never interrupted by obvious distractions---even a running joke involving Chinese take-out managed to take on a certain air of creepiness, just demonstrating how good this book really is. Certain scenes and places in this book will always be with me, like the tower of owls and that old garage. Just like in the best books of this nature, the otherworldly elements perfectly mirror the terror and beauty of growing up. Read this book if you haven't already.