The Banshee

Terry is half asleep when he hears the wailing, rising and falling like the waves of the sea. He wishes it were a dream, but he knows it isn’t. It isn’t an owl screeching, either. Or the Flannerys’ old cat. Could it be the Banshee—the ghostly figure of Irish legend who wails outside a house when death is near? Why would she come here? In spite of his fears, Terry goes out to confront her.

Lion’s Lunch?

Sarah is strolling through the jungle, singing a happy song, when Lion pounces. How dare she trespass on his turf? He is King of the Jungle–where nobody strolls and sings: They lumber and grunt, sprint and squeak, slither and harrumph! Lion makes an executive decision to eat the little girl for lunch. But Sarah thinks fast: True, she can’t wallow like the hippo or wriggle like the snake, but she can draw. She paints a portrait of Lion. “I don’t look that grumpy!” he protests. “Yes, you do!” all the animals chorus. Soon Sarah is the jungle’s artist-in-residence! In the tradition of Aesop’s classic fable about the lion and the mouse, LION’S LUNCH? is the tale of a little girl who thinks fast on her feet to get herself off the menu! With a gentle message about the difference between being a good boss–and just being bossy. Plus fabulous depictions of an entire menagerie–parrots, crocodiles, porcupines, antelopes, zebras, monkeys, leopards, frogs–by Margaret Chamberlain, illustrator of PINK!

Leprechaun in Late Winter (Magic Tree House #43)

Set in Ireland, Jack and Annie meet an Irish girl and go on an adventure that changes the girl’s life—she grows up to be Lady Gregory, who helped bring back the Irish legends, started a theater, and helped the Irish people regain both their heritage and their pride.

The Frost Child (Navigator Trilogy)

The final book in the thrilling Navigator trilogy.Twice the Harsh have tried to destroy time, and twice Owen and the Resisters have banded together to stop them. In City of Time, Owen killed the Harsh king, and now the Harsh are hungry for revenge. Their massive fleet is ready to set sail on the sea of time and hunt down the wily Navigator. In this third and final adventure, the Navigator and his friends use every last ounce of bravery and endurance to fight the toughest battle ever. As Owen searches for a solution, he travels through time to meet his father and grandfather, and discovers that the mysterious Frost Child holds the key to the power of the Harsh.

Age 14

It is 1913, and twelve-year-old Patrick Condon wants to escape his unexciting life in Ireland.  So he hatches a plan.  Not wanting to wait until he is old enough to join the army, Patrick lies and says he seventeen years old, and that his name is John Condon. Assuming the identity of his older brother, Patrick enlists. John fits in quickly, though it is obvious that John is not 17, or even 16. That doesn’t matter. John is strong, fast, and a hard worker. He loves military life. This man’s world is just what John wanted. But when WWI begins in 1914, John gets all he has been looking for, and more he does not expect, as he is just a boy…

Creature of the Night

YA. When Bobby’s mother moves the family into a rented house in the country, a neighbour tells him that a child was once murdered there. Bobby doesn’t care. All he wants is to get back to Dublin and to resume his wild life there, stealing from the crowded shopping streets and racing stolen cars at night. But getting his old life back doesn’t turn out to be so easy, and the longer he spends in the old cottage, the more convinced he becomes that something very strange is going on there. Was there really a murder? And if so, was it the one he has been told about?

Black Potatoes: The Story Of The Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850

In 1845, a disaster struck Ireland. Overnight, a mysterious blight attacked the potato crops, turning the potatoes black and destroying the only real food of nearly six million people. Over the next five years, the blight attacked again and again. These years are known today as the Great Irish Famine, a time when one million people died from starvation and disease and two million more fled their homeland. Black Potatoes is the compelling story of men, women, and children who defied landlords and searched empty fields for scraps of harvested vegetables and edible weeds to eat, who walked several miles each day to hard-labor jobs for meager wages and to reach soup kitchens, and who committed crimes just to be sent to jail, where they were assured of a meal. It”s the story of children and adults who suffered from starvation, disease, and the loss of family and friends, as well as those who died. Illustrated with black and white engravings, it”s also the story of the heroes among the Irish people and how they held on to hope.

Bog Child

Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him–his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what. A little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls. Bog Child is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.

Read a review of Bog Child in WOW Reviews.