Moving house, new friends, teenage relationships, growing up and a haunted house all come together in Katherine Duffy's first novel Splanctha (Clo Iar-Chonnachta, £4). Well-written and well-edited, the story is full of excitement as Aoife and Ronan try to solve the mystery of Ronan's father's death and to lay his unhappy ghost to rest. Duffy clearly understands the teenage mind. Aoife, Ronan and their friends are real teenagers, warts - or should I say "moods" - and all. Also - and essential for any teenage reading material in Irish without being in any way patronising - she succeeds in keeping the level of language relatively straightforward so as to appeal to a wider range of teenage readers.
An excellent read, Splanctha should be on the shelves of every secondary school library!
Also from Clo Iar-Chonnachta, An Nuacht ag a hOcht by Padraig O Luanaigh tells the story of Muintir Ui Mhainnin who win the Lotto. Every family's dream come true, they come to Dublin to collect their winnings and to do some shopping. However, a simple mix-up of suitcases on the way home turns their dream into a nightmare.
An enjoyable light thriller - but a little far-fetched in places. Would the winners of the Lotto really travel home to the west on the bus? Also questionable is the attitude of the gardai to an obviously innocent retired local teacher.
In spite of this, however, An Nuacht ag a hOcht offers an easy and entertaining read for teenagers.
Moving from present times, Mac Tire by Seamas Ceitinn is set well into the past . . . Six thousand years ago, we are told, the area we now know as Belfast was under the sea. To the south were forests, inhabited by hunters. Seamas Ceitinn takes us into the mind and heart of one young hunter, Daire, who sets out to find his brother and father who have been kidnapped/ taken into slavery by the raiders - Na Loiscneoiri. With his faithful Fioch, a young wolf, Daire goes from adventure to adventure, from youth to manhood. Eventually, having allowed himself to be sold into slavery to the raiders, there is an emotional reunion between father and son.
Although set in a fictional past, Ceitinn makes the civilisation he has created come alive. From beginning to end, we can believe that we are dealing with a real world. A good read for both the teenage and the adult reader.
Finally, well-known for his books in English for both adults and children, Scath na nAingeal is Michael Mullen's fourth book in Irish. Also set in the past, it tells the story of young Marcas/Marco who is apprenticed to the great Michaelangelo Buonarroti. However, it is, in fact, Michaelangelo who is really the central focus of this story.
We follow Marco's apprenticeship right through Michaelangelo's commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. We see the jealousies of other well-known artists and - from initial sketches to the finished product - we see Michaelangelo's passionate absorption in his work. Scath na nAingeal should appeal to the reader with an interest in art/ history. However, although well-written, it doesn't quite measure up to Michael Mullen's work in English.
Aine Ni Ghlinn is a poet and journalist