Immy is haunted by all the lives she has lived; they clamour in the back of her mind, crying out for attention, crying for the person she was a hundred, maybe a thousand years ago. But Immy is trying to live in the here and now, and she’s falling in love. She has been in love before, of course, but never like this.
There’s a lot going on in Dan’s life – writing songs, finishing primary school, keeping an eye on the unworthy boy who’s making the moves on his sister Kit, and chasing after his younger brother, Joe, when he escapes from the house. Joe has special needs, and the whole family do their part to take care of him, keeping all of them happily busy. Until Kit and his parents go to Italy for a wedding, leaving Dan and Joe with their headstrong Granny, who doesn’t quite understand just how much work looking after Joe can be.
Writing a dystopian world that is laugh-out-loud funny is no mean feat, but to create such an environment for young readers is nothing short of extraordinary. John Hearne manages this with deftness in The Very Dangerous Sisters of Indigo McCloud. Indigo finds himself the unwilling hero of the tale, battling against his formidably vindictive sisters as they terrorise the town of Blunt and monopolise income from door-to-door calendar sales. His quest to stop them from harming dissenters is dramatic, absurd, and absolutely compelling.
John Chambers’ latest book chronicles the mad-cap adventures of Manchán, a young boy who loves mucking around in medieval Ireland. Truly horrified at the idea that his mother wants him to become a monk, Manchán would much rather spend his time getting into scrapes with Muck his pig and his best friend Pagan-of-the-Six-Toes.
This poignant, wordless picturebook from Mauricio Negro takes a playful, yet thought-provoking look at ethnicity and colour. Reminiscent of Arga Gra’s poem ‘And you call me coloured’, Colour of People reminds us that, regardless of colour or ethnicity, we all fall ill, get hungry, feel pain, and experience happiness. The central message of the book focuses on a basic truth about the human condition: we are all different, yet we are all the same. This message is particularly evident in the final illustrations of the book.
No one likes feeling ill, having to visit a doctor or stay in hospital, so this collection of funny, informative poems is like medicine for the reluctant patient. From the cosiness of your bed when you are sick, to parents’ care and humour when a little person in is hospital, Latvian poet Zandere gently deals with all aspects of being poorly. Reimagined by Cullen, medical procedures are deconstructed and simplified so that worries and fears can be seen from a child’s point of view.
Milo Moloney is accepted into the most highly ranked and the wealthiest school in all of Ireland: The Secondary Training Institute for Lifelong Employment. Entering into First Year, he is determined to excel and arrives at orientation ready for the challenge that the prestigious school will give him. However, the academic challenge that Milo is faced with is not what he expects.
Moving is a big change enough, so when the child at the center of this story is told that, on top of it all, he cannot bring his ‘mate, bestie and right-hand man’ tractor along to his new city house, it’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back: you would have to be crazy to not realize how useful, fun and really town-friendly a tractor can be!
What comes to mind when you think of Ireland? Harps, hurleys, sheep and maybe girls in Irish dancing costumes? Well, they all turn up in various numbers in Aoife Dooley’s 123 Ireland! but there are definitely zero snakes. In a welcome change from apples and boats, this lovely little counting book will introduce babies and young children to all things Irish from zero to ten.
Imagine a world where your very language is taken from you. That is the reality for Letta and the other inhabitants of Ark, a world post environmental collapse. While others accept the new reality of a world of limited words, wordsmith Letta understands that words are power and if they let their words be taken by the dictator of Ark, then they are lost forever.
