Jo Holmwood

Jo Holmwood works as project manager for Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, an all-Ireland children’s arts organisation and publishing house. She is also a writer of plays and fiction.

The New Recruit by Andy McNab
Andy McNab’s The New Recruit is about a young man who goes through his army training and experiences his first tour in Afghanistan. If you’re…
Posted 25/04/2013 in Reviews

The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan
Elizabeth LaBan embraces the theme of tragedy in her début novel. Two stories are interwoven as she introduces us to Duncan and then to Tim,…
Posted 17/04/2013 in Reviews

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
As a debut novel, Wendy Wunder’s The Probability of Miracles is quite a self-assured accomplishment. It is a meaty teenage tome, which…
Posted 7/01/2013 in Reviews

Young Samurai: The Ring of Wind by Chris Bradford
This is the latest in Bradford’s extensive Young Samurai series. As a newcomer to this series, I had a bit of catching up to do, but Bradford…
Posted 30/11/2012 in Reviews

The Ghost Roads by Eoin McNamee
Eoin McNamee returns with the concluding volume of the Ring of Five Trilogy. The action once again focuses on our hero Danny Caulfield as he…
Posted 6/11/2012 in Reviews

Grounded by Sheena Wilkinson
Grounded is the follow-up to Sheena Wilkinson’s award-winning novel Taking Flight. It is an extremely well observed and well written account,…
Posted 12/10/2012 in Reviews

Until I Die by Amy Plum
Until I Die is a sequel Plum’s Die for Me, and picks up with Kate’s dilemma as a mere mortal human, who is in love with the revenant Vincent,…
Posted 9/10/2012 in Reviews

Andy Stanton
Literature is an Amazing Meadow
Posted 13/06/2012 in Features

Bruised by Siobhán Parkinson
This review is an extract from Inis 35. To read the full extended review pick up a copy of Inis 35.

The title of Siobhán Parkinson’s new teen…
Posted 10/05/2011 in Reviews

The Rebel Prince by Celine Kiernan
The Rebel Prince is the third and last book in the Moorehawke Trilogy, a powerful historical fantasy series that depicts the political…
Posted 1/12/2010 in Reviews

Blue Moon by Alyson Noël
Book two in the Immortals series, this is Alyson Noël’s contribution to the massive body of supernatural books that are flooding the teen…
Posted 1/06/2010 in Reviews

Shapeshifters by Adrian Mitchell
The result of this collaboration between Adrian Mitchell and Alan Lee is a beautiful book that will be revisited time and again by young…
Posted 1/04/2010 in Reviews

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
Teenage novels are rife these days with wizards, vampires and all things supernatural. Prophecy of the Sisters is part of this extensive genre…
Posted 1/12/2009 in Reviews

The White Horse Trick by Kate Thompson
Books that tackle the subject of climate change are all too important for young audiences who will inherit and share the responsibility for…
Posted 1/09/2009 in Reviews

Numbers by Rachel Ward
Rachel Ward has achieved the perfect blend for a teen novel: a compelling first-person narrative; a believable central character; a…
Posted 1/06/2009 in Reviews

Marked by PC Cast
The first of the House of Night trilogy due to be published in quick succession in 2009, Marked is clearly marketed for a Stephenie Meyer…
Posted 1/04/2009 in Reviews

Sold by Patricia McCormick
Young readers must choose their own books, but it is important that they know what they are selecting. This book is about sexual slavery, so…
Posted 1/12/2008 in Reviews

Hugging the Rock by Susan Taylor Brown
Susan Taylor Brown uses an unconventional form in this book, which looks like poetry but reads like prose. This suits the first person…
Posted 1/09/2008 in Reviews

Blue Sky Freedom by Gary Halbertstam
This is a sophisticated story for older readers depicting the situation of apartheid and political unrest in South Africa in the 1970s.…
Posted 1/06/2008 in Reviews

Mr Gum and the Goblins by Andy Stanton
More outrageous antics from Andy Stanton see our heroes, Friday and Polly, with the help of (the tiny) Alan Taylor, save Lamonic Bibber from…
Posted 1/06/2008 in Reviews

After the Death of Alice Bennett by Rowland Molony
‘There was death. The real fact of it. And it was not a separate and dread thing; it was a fact, like the snow outside.’ This book shows a…
Posted 1/12/2007 in Reviews