(2) YA Nishat is a Bengali Muslim teen attending a conservative Catholic school in Dublin. When she comes out as lesbian to her parents, she is met with near-silence. Meanwhile, Nishat creates a henna business for a school competition, and her longtime crush Flávia (an Afro-Brazilian Irish classmate) complicates things by creating a rival business. As the competition heats up, so do the young women's feelings for each other. Their will-they-or-won't-they? romance will keep readers engrossed. Jaigirdar's debut novel features realistically complex queer girls of color at its center and honestly addresses the conflicts they face as such--micro- and macro-agressions, hitting up against family traditions while trying to pursue one's own desires and wants--though always standing in Nishat's corner is her supportive sister Priti, who offers the approval the protagonist longs for from her family. All major conflicts are tied up, and probably most touching of all is the hopeful understanding that Nishat and her family reach.

Reviewer: Sara Danver | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(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