I wrote a novel about abortion – and couldn’t talk about itI hope my novel about being forced to travel for abortion will soon become historical fictionMon May 21 2018 - 17:14
May’s young adult picks: from the terror of violence to the electricity of loveRacism against young black men and living with a violent abuser feature this monthSat May 12 2018 - 06:00
April’s young adult picks pack an emotional punchA dead mother as a bird, a town of ghosts, addiction and friendship feature this monthSat Apr 14 2018 - 06:00
YA fiction reviews: From a nuanced look at love to a powerful adoption storyYA work from Sara Barnard, Robin Benway, Mary Watson , Peter Bognanni and MT AndersonSat Feb 17 2018 - 06:00
YA book reviews: from witchcraft to Frankenstein, fandom and fanfictionClaire Hennessy looks at some of the early annual offering from young authorsSat Jan 20 2018 - 06:00
Four novels for young adultsScience fiction, tensions in Belfast, family dynamics and the ‘rules’ of revengeSat Dec 23 2017 - 06:00
Sneaky abortion novels? They’re a new movement, and I’ve signed upWe can’t write about young women without writing about the Eighth AmendmentSat Dec 09 2017 - 06:00
Boldly going where no girl has gone beforeThe Bold Girls project is a celebration of women writers, artists and their fictional counterparts to mark the centenary of female suffrage in IrelandFri Dec 08 2017 - 15:36
‘It’s really only when you try explaining The Room of Shame to your lesbian friends that you realise how mad it is’Sound Off: Claire Hennessy, writerSat Dec 02 2017 - 06:00
Young adult fiction: Cruel teenage girls, a space odyssey, and dirty bitsNew novels from CL Taylor, Daniel Handler, poet Billy Merrell and Annabel PitcherSat Nov 25 2017 - 06:00
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green: hopeful realism YA writers should strive forAcknowledging the difficulties of loving someone with a chronic mental illness is both ethically noble and, with this novel, skilfully doneSat Nov 18 2017 - 06:00
Fairytale success for bestselling Sligo illustratorEva Byrne drew the Kate Middleton-inspired 'New York Times' bestseller 'Princesses Wear Pants'Tue Nov 07 2017 - 09:23
Young adult fiction: Girls challenge rape cultureThe best new young adult novels: everything from fashion in Auschwitz to macabre romanceSat Oct 28 2017 - 06:00
Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust previewChildren’s booksellers and critics share their enthusiasm about The Book of Dust, the new companion trilogy to His Dark Materials which launches tomorrowWed Oct 18 2017 - 17:00
Joseph Coelho: library lover and poetry populariserExplaining and thinking about poetry has sharpened his own poetic instinctWed Oct 04 2017 - 12:27
Young adult reviews: Girl power and living life to the fullSuffragettes, cosmic romance and a message from Death feature in these titlesSat Sept 30 2017 - 06:00
The invisible girl: an Irish YA novel about homelessnessSarah Carroll: ‘Every character in the novel, and all of the experiences described, are based on homeless people I have met or observed’Wed Sept 20 2017 - 08:00
Children’s book reviews: Delicious treats and time-travelling best friendsPop-Up Shakespeare serves as an accurate if often irreverent introduction to the BardSat Sept 16 2017 - 06:00
Fragmented fairytales with a feminist twistYoung adult fiction: a death sentence, a double suicide – and a sinister hunt partySat Sept 02 2017 - 06:00
Girl in a boarding school: YA meets grip-litYA author Cat Clarke’s sixth novel, Girlhood, ticks many ‘grip-lit’ boxes. She talks to Claire HennessyTue Aug 29 2017 - 08:33
Children’s book reviews: Exotic pets and beating gender stereotypesNew middle-grade offerings particularly strong, including Katherine Rundell’s new releaseSat Aug 19 2017 - 06:00
Young adult fiction round-up: Broken lives and the missing piecesThese titles are tied together by themes of grief, loss, and a sense of ‘brokenness’Sat Aug 05 2017 - 06:00
Children’s book reviews: a round-up of some great readsProse, rhyming verse and the Rock, Paper, Scissors characters will delight this summerSat Jul 22 2017 - 06:00
The best of young adult fictionAutism, family life, politics, murder, love and romance – young adult fiction has it allSat Jul 08 2017 - 06:00
Young adult fiction: the best of the current cropDerek Landy is back, with Aaron Starmer, Moira Fowley-Doyle and Sarah CarrollSat Jun 10 2017 - 06:00
Bridging the age gap: a feminist faces her familyClaire Hennessy relives appearing on a feminist literary platform in front of her elderly, conservative Catholic relativeFri Jun 09 2017 - 10:50
Alienated youth and alien impregnationDavid Owen tells Claire Hennessy how The Midwich Cuckoos inspired his YA novelThu May 25 2017 - 11:50
YA fiction reviews: gay love, pregnancies and eating disordersOne of the year’s best YA novels delves into the nuances of love, self-worth and letting goSat May 13 2017 - 06:00
Anne of Green Gables, a highly adaptable heroineFirst published in 1908 and with a musical running in Canada since 1965, LM Montgomery’s beloved series has been reissued by Virago to tie in with the Netflix versionFri May 12 2017 - 10:33
‘I love parents telling me they have to read my bloody books EVERY NIGHT’Brothers in arts Andrew and Chris Judge, the duo behind the Create Your Own Superhero Epic series, talk creativity and collaborationFri May 05 2017 - 11:52
Yasmeen Ismail on how to draw out children’s emotionsThe creator of the Draw & Discover activity books series advises parents wanting to encourage their children to be creative not to micro-manageWed May 03 2017 - 09:53
YA reviews: Poverty, privilege and finding your place in the worldFrom Siobhan Dowd to Cecelia Ahern, here are the best new novels for teenage readersSat Apr 15 2017 - 06:00
What’s Irish for ‘Billionaire Boy’? David Walliams as GaeilgeThe best new books for children and young adultsSat Mar 18 2017 - 06:00
Ally Carter: ‘I think Molly Weasley is as strong a character as Katniss Everdeen’The author of three bestselling series discusses feminism, TV’s huge influence, the YA world and the inspiration for Embassy RowThu Mar 16 2017 - 11:38
Girl Power: the best female leads in children’s and young adult novelsInternational Women’s Day: Claire Hennessy introduces you to a host of literary role modelsWed Mar 08 2017 - 06:00
It’s Bookworm Christmas! Happy World Book DayClaire Hennessy looks at the story behind the 20-year-old reading initiative and talks to Helen Carr and Judi Curtin, editor and author of this year’s Irish World Book Day titleThu Mar 02 2017 - 12:03
‘Look at JK Rowling!’ The line guaranteed to make a children’s author weepFor every David Walliams or Jeff Kinney, there are 1,000 authors for young people scraping a living and double jobbing, but for many it is a passion and a vocationTue Feb 21 2017 - 10:00
The best of this month’s books for children and young adultsAward-winning writers and newcomers provide a rich selection for younger readersSat Feb 18 2017 - 04:00
Jacqueline Wilson: ‘If your life is what you post on Instagram, what is your plot?’The bestselling author on unhappy endings, living with adaptations and why she prefers the Victorian era to today’s world as a setting for her YA novelsFri Feb 17 2017 - 06:00
The best romances in YA novelsYA readers want love stories that avoid cliched brooding heroes and swoony silliness, romance beyond the boy-meets-girl varietyTue Feb 14 2017 - 06:00
Children’s books: five great titles to start the new yearSelection includes fun, silly stories and the 2016 Printz Award-winning YA bookSat Jan 21 2017 - 06:00
Worthy and wonderful: The best children’s and YA fiction of 2016No need to force ‘worthy’ books on young readers this year. Some of the best books of 2016 are not preachy, but all are carefully crafted and engaging works of literatureSat Dec 17 2016 - 06:00
Books to steal young people’s hearts this ChristmasThe Grinch, Horrid Henry, the Christmasaurus, seasonal jokes and a Yuletide murder mystery are some of the festive reading delights on offer for children and teensSat Dec 17 2016 - 06:00
Small Great Things review: Race confronted in important bookJodi Picoult makes her white, liberal readers shuffle uncomfortably in heavy-handed workSat Dec 10 2016 - 06:00
YA, romance, fantasy: RF Long’s much maligned influencesRuth Frances Long tells Claire Hennessy about a trilogy’s power, making Dublin mystical and why romance fiction is a feminist actThu Dec 01 2016 - 11:25
Irish Times review: New books for younger readersFrom suffragettes to feminists and revolting rhymes for teensSat Nov 19 2016 - 06:00
Young adult dystopias – for when reality isn’t dark enoughHere are some of the best dystopian titles for young peopleFri Nov 11 2016 - 16:20
Children’s Irish Book Awards nominations: a crash courseClaire Hennessy, our resident children’s/YA reviewer and a shortlisted author too, runs her rule over shortlists and identifies the favouritesFri Nov 11 2016 - 15:53
Children’s and YA books: Hats off to several top new titlesReviews of titles by, among others, Jon Klassen, Barroux, Julia ‘Gruffalo’ Donaldson and comedian David O’DohertySat Oct 22 2016 - 05:00
Children’s and YA fiction: a bumper crop for the ‘middle grade’Reviews of titles by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Siobhán Parkinson, Judi Curtin, Paul Gamble and Peter Bunzl, plus Harry Potter ebooks from JK RowlingSat Sept 24 2016 - 05:00
