With her gifts of insight and compassion [Katherine Paterson in Angels and Other Strangers] weaves stories about miracles of the Christmas season—miracles that take place on a truly human level. Each story is based on the Christian message of the birth of Christ and the significance that message takes on for the characters. She writes of the poor, the desolate, and the lonely as well as of the arrogant, the complacent, and the proud…. The stories are deeply moving and filled with humor. They are based not on a formal, theoretical Christianity but on a faith that is rich with human understanding.

Karen M. Klockner, in a review of "Angels and Other Strangers: Family Christmas Stories," in The Horn Book Magazine, Vol. LV, No. 6, December, 1979, p. 650.