Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

From Goodreads:
"The startling, universally acclaimed breakthrough YA novel from master bestselling author Alice Hoffman, now in paperback.

Left on her own when her family dies in a terrible disaster, fifteen-year-old Green is haunted by loss and by the past. Struggling to survive physically and emotionally in a place where nothing seems to grow and ashes are everywhere, Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. But in destroying her feelings, she also begins to destroy herself, erasing the girl she'd once been as she inks darkness into her skin. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters that Green can relearn the lessons of love and begin to heal enough to tell her story."

My thoughts:
I didn't realize that Hoffman had written YA fiction until I picked this book up from my shelf.  I have really enjoyed some of her other books and this seemed like a perfect size to read in a day on a not so busy weekend.  It seemed like it came to an ending, but on Goodreads I see that there is a sequel.  Now to wonder if I want to find a copy to read.  For the moment I think I am okay with where this one ended.  I also have to wonder why this was not just written as one book since it was only a bit over 100 pages.

Please don't take that to mean I didn't like this one, I did, but it came to a satisfactory conclusion in my mind and I finished it a week or two ago not left wondering what would happen next.  I love how Hoffman weaves magic into her stories.  

I found myself wondering if the terrible disaster was a parallel to the attack on 9-11,  maybe because it is almost that date again.  At the same time  it seemed like a simpler time so I wasn't sure.  How do we go about protecting ourselves from  danger and how much of that protection changes who we are and how we see ourselves?  How fast does the illusion of society fade in times of crisis?

It seemed similar to my last review because something terrible had happened, many people had died and we saw the disaster from the point of view of a teenager.  I am used to encountering a lot of either romance or end of the world topics in YA, I may need to explore some more and see what other genres are encompassed by YA.