Books for children

IT’S NOT FAIRY by Ros Asquith (Frances Lincoln €14.92 HB).

The ‘not fair’ fairy is fed up with youngsters moaning and fussing about the unfairness of life. The bad behaviour of quarrelsome Billy and Mary finally drives her into serious action — especially when they declare to their harassed parents that they don’t believe in her.

“The very next kids I meet/ I’m pretty sure I’m going to eat!” the fairy snarls. They being Billy and Mary. However, Mum and Dad don’t escape unscathed from the fairy wrath. The combination of comical illustrations and rollicking verse are laugh-aloud fun. Age 8+.

DAN AND THE DEAD by Thomas Taylor (A&C Black €7.10) This is a delightful, scary romp as Dan, who has the unusual ability to communicate with the dead, sets out to solve some of their problems. He picks one too many when he tries to help ghostly Emeline Parker who was run down by a bus as she tried to escape from the evil Carl Bagport.

Before she moves on to the real hereafter she wants to see Carl get his come-uppance. Only Dan can help, as he is the one live human who can listen to her story. He is aided in his quest by Spooky Simon, as well as drawing on the support of a mysterious, eccentric Victorian stuntman who is still fuming that his final stunt cost him his reputation as well as his head. A funny all-action adventure with creepy but non-terrifying characters. Age 9+.

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Sara Zarr (Usborne €8.35) The novel, with two first person narrators, charts the trauma- filled lives of Jill and Mandy. Jill is grieving for her father and is in the process of rejecting all her mother stands for; Mandy is seventeen, pregnant and desperate to leave her dysfunctional home and childhood behind. When Jill’s mother decides to adopt a baby and brings the pregnant Mandy to live in her house for the final weeks of her pregnancy, the tension reaches breaking point. The touching denouement is a stroke of genius. Age 14+.