Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick

Saint Death is a gloriously angry book. It rages against the corporate machine, against the relentless, intolerable struggle for equality and justice. It highlights the plight of migrants and refugees and it cries at a world that forces their hand. It is a brilliant, brilliant thing. 'Anapra is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the...

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais

I can't tell you how much I loved this book. To do so I would have to come and meet each of you individually and just hug you, really tight, go off on an animated political rant and then possibly dance and force feed you cheese. Because there is so much going on in this...

Troublemakers by Catherine Barter

Troublemakers by Catherine Barter (Andersen Press) is a political coming of age story about memory and the stories that ground us and bind us to our past and our families. It's beautifully written and had a place in my heart within the first few pages. 'In three years I will be able to vote and...

Encounters by Jason Wallace

Encounters by Jason Wallace (Andersen) is a story of layers and discovery. Each chapter covers the same time period told from the point of view of different characters. Their stories overlap and as a reader you learn more details as you see events from different perspectives. It raises the question of reliable witnesses and trustworthy storytellers...

Like Other Girls by Claire Hennessy

'Here's what Lauren knows: she's not like other girls. She also knows it's problematic to say that - what's wrong with girls? She's even fancied some in the past. But if you were stuck in St Agnes, her posh all-girls school, you'd feel like that too. Here everyone's expected to be Perfect Young Ladies, it's even a song...

Who Runs the World?

I love books for the way they can drop a question into your mind, light a spark and leave you to examine it. Who Runs the World? by Virginia Bergin (Macmillan) is a book that does just that. It's a book that makes you think and, above all, question. What would it be like? What would I do? What...

Girlhood by Cat Clarke

I loved this book for it's complicated friendships, ominous relationships and the sense of being pulled further in to a web. It was compulsive reading and I sat up until the early hours of the morning unable to put it down. It's exactly the kind of book to disappear into on a gloomy, rainy day....

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

'Can a text message destroy your life? Carver Briggs never thought a simple text would cause a fatal crash, killing his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. Now Carver can't stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, there could be a criminal investigation into the deaths. Then Blake's grandmother asks Carver to remember her...

Out of Heart by Irfan Master

'Adam is a teenage boy who lives with his mum and younger sister. His dad has left them although lives close by. His sister no longer speaks and his mum works two jobs. Adam feels the weight of the world upon his shoulders. Then his grandfather dies and in doing so he donates a very precious...

We Come Apart

There are some authors whom you cherish. Their words bring you to life. Their books are stroked and collected in different editions. A new book's publishing date is scribbled on your calendar and you inhale it when it arrives. There are so many authors whose work sends me a bit giddy like that and Sarah Crossan...