IN Gordon Snell's The Curse of Werewolf Castle (Poolbeg, £3.99), a film crew comes to Ballygandon and Molly, Brendan and Dessy are engaged as extras. But strange things happen on the set. Is it the curse of the werewolf or dastardly deeds by one of the cast? Gordon Snell's familiarity with film making gives an authentic background to this fast moving adventure.
In Flight from Toledo, by Michael Mullen (Poolbeg, £3.99), Ferdinand and Isabel are driving the last of the Moors out of Spain, the Inquisition is at the height of its powers and Christopher Columbus is about to set sail "for China".
Mullen's distinctive, simple style stands him in good stead here. He manages to manipulate his cast of believable characters into an enthralling story weaving a tapestry of 15th century Spain from nobles to peasants, soldiers to priests, Christians and Jews to Moors. A demanding read, perhaps, but well worth the effort.
In Sisters - No Way! by Siobhan Parkinson (O'Brien, £4.50), each sister tells her own story in an intriguing back to back format, like an Irish dictionary. If you start at one end Aisling, an almost but not quite too good to be true teenager, is coming to terms with her parents' separation.
If you start at the other, Cindy, a much cooler individual, is trying to cope with the recent death of her mother. When Aisling's mother and Cindy's father start going out together, the two girls are thrust into each other's company.
Siobhan Parkinson has written a perceptive novel in which the issue of second families is handled sensitively and humorously. I suspect her readers will, like Swift's Big Endians and Little Endians, split into two camps: those who can bear to read the two halves consecutively and those who, like myself, cannot resist turning the book upside down to see what the other character is thinking.