Susanna Coghlan

The Lantern Moon by Maeve Friel
The Lantern Moon features three working children in 1811, their story is set against a background of industrial development and political…
Posted 1/09/2010 in Reviews

Ramadan Moon by Na’ima B Robert
Ramadan Moon is an engaging mixture of collage, drawing and text. Using the voice and images of a young girl and her family, the book takes…
Posted 1/04/2010 in Reviews

Hazel by Julie Hearn
After witnessing a young suffragette’s dramatic, public suicide, 12-year-old Hazel becomes passionately interested in this cause.

Hazel’s…
Posted 1/12/2007 in Reviews

Ruby Tanya by Robert Swindells
Life in the quiet English village of Tipton Lacey is turned on its head when a bomb explodes in the local school and a young teacher is…
Posted 1/09/2004 in Reviews

Children and Books: A Worldwide Challenge by Leena Maissen
This publication gathers together the papers presented at the 28th IBBY biennial congress in Basel in October 2002, as well as giving an…
Posted 1/06/2004 in Reviews

Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman
This sequel to the provocative Noughts and Crosses starts with the birth of Callie Rose, the child of Sephy, a Cross, and Callum, a Nought and…
Posted 1/06/2004 in Reviews

Hurricane by Verna Allette Wilkins
An ordinary school day on a Caribbean island is interrupted by a hurricane warning. The pupils are sent home early, but the siblings Troy and…
Posted 1/06/2004 in Reviews

The Fire-Eaters by David Almond
Set against the gathering threat of the Cuban Missile Crisis, this warmly atmospheric novel is a gentle evocation of life in a small…
Posted 1/12/2003 in Reviews

A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird
Written in collaboration with Palestinian author Sonia Nimr, A Little Piece of Ground tells the story of Karim, an ordinary 12-year-old boy,…
Posted 1/12/2003 in Reviews

The Bush by Bernard Ashley
Joyce is delighted when her mother brings home two fluffy white rabbits to breed. Mother tells her children that she will earn money by…
Posted 1/12/2003 in Reviews

‘The Best Mum’ and ‘The Best Toy’ by Sarah Nash
These two sturdy paperback picturebooks for beginner readers are printed on strong card with rounded child-friendly corners. Both stories are…
Posted 1/09/2003 in Reviews

Caught in the Crossfire by Alan Gibbons
Set in the fictional English town of Oldfield, this novel explores some of the racial tensions which surfaced in Britain after the devastating…
Posted 1/06/2003 in Reviews

Petar’s Song by Pratima Mitchell
The location of this story is never named but the landscape and the features of the people suggest somewhere in the Balkan area. Petar is a…
Posted 1/06/2003 in Reviews

The Shell House by Linda Newbury
With all the subtlety and sureness of an experienced writer, Newbery interweaves deliberations on religion, sexuality, morality, war and class…
Posted 1/04/2003 in Reviews

Lucas by Kevin Brooks
The mysterious and attractive Lucas immediately ignites Caitlin’s interest when she sees him walking along the narrow spit connecting her…
Posted 1/04/2003 in Reviews

The Water Puppets by Clive Gifford
The Water Puppets provides a brief introduction to life in Vietnam in the 1960s and the complexities of the Vietnam War through the fictional…
Posted 1/09/2002 in Reviews

Mad Dog McGraw by Myron Uhlberg
Mad Dog McGraw is a refreshing read, revealing the satisfaction of making a friend of a former enemy. Monks’s illustrations are full of energy…
Posted 1/09/2002 in Reviews

Exodus by Julie Bertagna
On the North Atlantic island of Wing, after the polar ice caps have melted and most of the world has become submerged, 15-year-old Mara’s only…
Posted 1/09/2002 in Reviews