(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Emily Hughes. Expanded from a 2011 short story written in honor of Dublin's St. Patrick's Day festivities, this novel is about kids trying to shake off the "Black Dog" of malaise that has gripped their beloved city. Both an homage to Dublin and a jumping-off point for conversations about economic and emotional depression, the illustrated novel is a little short on plot but long on hope and humor.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Mary O'Hara's narrative is punctuated with scenes from the young lives of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Eventually all four generations meet ("one of them dead, one of them dying, one of them driving, one of them just starting out") and head off to an old family home. Doyle's Irish ghost tale is moving and artfully structured.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2012

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Freya Blackwood. Siobhán can't remember her dead mother's face. With her father frozen inside his own unhappiness, there's no one to help her grieve. After a comforting visit from "a beautiful woman" (who she later concludes was her mother), Siobhán finally begins to heal. Poignant watercolor and charcoal illustrations show how a mother's quirky spirit lives on through her sensitive daughter.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) 4-6 Johnny, Tom, and their mother go on a dogsledding trip in Finland. The brothers love every minute of it--until their mam disappears. Running alongside the boys' tense, gripping adventure is the story of their eighteen-year-old half-sister, home in Dublin dealing with the return of her birth mother. The missing mother stories are linked by the characters' coming-of-age epiphanies.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2008

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Brian Ajhar. When Mr. Mack applies for a bank loan for his invention (a saw that resembles a machine gun), he gets arrested. Meanwhile, his sons dig a tunnel to his jail cell, and his dog, his daughter, and her friend search for Mrs. Mack, who is secretly setting a world record. Fans of the silly and gross will enjoy the somewhat uninspired but fast-paced nonsense.

Reviewer: Mark Adam