The fourth in the very successful series about Kevin (a Catholic) and Sadie (a Protestant) who meet (The Twelfth Day of July), grow up and fall in love (Across the Barricades) and leave Belfast to marry and find some peace (Into Exile). A Proper Place finds them still in Liverpool, with a two-room flat and baby Brendan, and coping with Kevin’s sullen seventeen-year-old brother, Gerald;’ but a job and a tied cottage on a Cheshire farm offer a new direction
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction genre
Sisters . . . No Way!
Cindy, a savvy yet cynical teenager, still traumatized by her mother’s recent death, is appalled when her father falls in love with one of her teachers, a woman with two teenage daughters of her own. She cannot imagine a worse fate than having her teacher as her stepmother, and as for the two prissy girls, she is never going to call them sisters . . . no way! But if Cindy dislikes her prospective sisters, Ashling and Orla think she is an absolute horror — spoiled, arrogant, and atrociously rude to them and their mother when they visit her house. Will the girls ever get along and learn to be a family? Featuring the girls’ stories in two unique, back-to-back diaries, one for Cindy and the other for Ashling and Orla, readers can choose which story to begin with and will enjoy the varying viewpoints recording the same events.
Hostages to Fortune
When the death of Kevin’s employer confronts him and his wife Sadie with the sudden loss of both job and home, an uncertain future looms up before them. Sequel to “A Proper Place.”
Long Story Short
From Ireland’s first laureate for children’s literature comes a story of abuse and neglect told with sincerity, heart, and a healthy dose of humor. Jono has always been able to cope with his mother’s drinking, but when she hits his little sister Julie, he decides it’s time for them to run away. Told in Jono’s funny, self-conscious voice, the layers of his past and the events of his escape are gradually revealed.
Aftershock
Makis and his moher Sofia escape a devastating Greek earthquake which has claimed his father’s life. North London is a ver different place – but Makis quickly wins a covetted place in the school football team. Unlike her son, Sofia, isolated by her grief and lack of English, sinks into depression. Makis has a brilliant idea to help her – using books from school he begins to teach her to read. But competing loyalites mean that sooner or later, something has to give and his hard-won reputation at school appears to be in ruins.
Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (Maybe)
Beverly, who is bossy and a bit of a snob, convinces her cautious friend Elizabeth to accompany her on an adventure to the island off the coast. Gerard, Beverly’s messy brother who is barely tolerated by the girls, insists on going with them and brings his cat. Things begin to look up when at the last minute the good-looking Kevin joins the trip, but when they become stranded on the island and encounter a strange inhabitant, this motley crew must find ways to support each other and put up with one another’s shortcomings.
Abe In Arms
Portraying the pressures of teens to live a normal life while facing mental illness, this suspenseful young adult novel follows the journey of success-bound Abe, who struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A senior in high school, with a loving and wealthy adoptive family, Abe is on track for a big scholarship and an open future. Suddenly, horrific flashbacks rip him back to war-torn Africa, where five years previously he lost his mother, sister, friends, and almost his own life to torturous violence. During therapy, he uncovers even darker moments from his past that make him question how he survived. This action-filled thriller will open the eyes and hearts of teenagers to the lives of young people who have been exposed to profound violence around the world.
Handa’s Hen
Every morning, Handa, a young girl from the Luo tribe, feeds breakfast to Mondi, her grandma’s black hen. This morning, however, Mondi is nowhere to be seen. So Handa and her friend Akeyo set off on a hunt, coming upon two fluttery butterflies, three stripy mice, four little lizards, five beautiful sunbirds, and many more intriguing creatures. But where could Mondi be? Is that a faint cheeping they hear under the bush? Might Mondi have a surprise in store (or maybe even ten of them)?
Chirchir Is Singing
Chirchir just wants to make herself useful like all her other family members. But she drops Mama’s water bucket, spills Kogo’s tea, and sends Baba’s potatoes tumbling down the hill. but each of their tasks proves too challenging for her.Isn’t there something that Chirchir does best?
The Christmas Coat
Virginia and her brother are never allowed to pick first from the donation boxes at church because their father is the priest. Virginia is heartbroken when another girl gets the beautiful coat that she covets. Based on the author’s memoirs of life on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.