Most Popular Books by Siobhan Dowd

DIGGING FOR PEAT in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him—his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what—a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls. Bog Child is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.

While running away from a London foster home just before her fifteenth birthday, Holly has ample time to consider her years of residential care and her early life with her Irish mother, whom she is now trying to reach.

Ireland 1984.After Shell''s mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, who is charming, eloquent, and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself pregnant and the center of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again.This is a story of love and loss, religious belief and spirituality—it will move the hearts of any who read it.

Darra is an omen of unluck: a thirteenth child. To appease the dark god, Dond, and bring good fortune to her small island community, Darra must be sacrificed at the age of thirteen - by drowning. On the eve of her final birthday, Darra begins to dream of the twin brother she has watched from afar but never met, and dares to hope that she might escape her fate . . . The scouring wind and remorseless waves which beat against Darra''s island world are matched in Pam Smy''s powerful, wild and emotive illustrations. The Ransom of Dond is our final story from Siobhan, and a book to be treasured.

Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off–except Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. This is an unput-downable spine-tingling thriller–a race against time.

A stunning new edition of Dowd''s moving story of lives lived on the edge of society, and love in its many forms with powerful black and white illustrations from Emma Shoard. Bullying, name-calling, and a new school face Jim when his family halt at Dundray. The town aren''t happy that his community are there and it seems such an unfriendly place until he meets a girl named Kit. But acts of prejudice are constant, the threat to Jims family is building, and Kit''s friendship isn''t enough to stop the violence they face.A stunning new edition of this poignant novella of the reality of life in a traveller community and the simple power of kindness.

Dit is het verhaal van Darra, die als dertiende kind van haar moeder op haar dertiende verjaardag zal worden geofferd aan de duistere god Dond. Ze kan zich geen slechter verjaardagscadeau voorstellen. Siobhan Dowd trekt ons op onweerstaanbare wijze in Darra’s wereld op een klein smaragdgroen eiland, gegeseld door wit-getipte golven, en overgeleverd aan de genade van de duistere god Dond. Alleen de waarheid en een kus van een moeder kunnen haar bevrijden. *Bijzondere novelle van prijswinnende auteur

Ich sehe das Land, dachte Fergus. Mit deinen Augen. Siedlungen, Rinder, Felder. Es ist kalt. Und irgendwo dort unten liegt der See. Wenn die Wolken wandern, kann man ihn gerade noch erkennen. Und es ist schön, eine Schönheit, an der man erst Gefallen finden muss. Eine Schönheit, die man erst im Laufe eines Lebens begreift. Nordirland, 1981. Es ist Sommer und Fergus küsst Cora, das Mädchen aus Dublin. Und er fragt sich: Warum tut die ganze Welt eigentlich nicht genau dieses, immerzu? Es ist Sommer und Fergus lebt in Drumleash, Nordirland. Es ist der Sommer der Unruhen, des Hasses, der Gewalt, des Hungerstreiks. Und Fergus ist hier zu Hause.

Es ist sieben Minuten nach Mitternacht. Wie jede Nacht erwartet Conor den Albtraum, der ihn quält, seit seine Mutter unheilbar an Krebs erkrankt ist. Doch diesmal begegnet er einem Wesen, das seine geheimsten Ängste zu kennen scheint, ein Wesen, das uralt ist und wild und weise. Und schon bald begreift Conor, dass es der einzige Freund ist, der ihm in den Stunden der Not zur Seite steht. Denn er wird zerrissen von der einen Frage, die er nicht einmal zu denken wagt. Darf er seine Mutter, die er über alles liebt, loslassen? Oder muss er es sogar, um nicht selbst verloren zu sein?

Während der Fahrt mit dem Londoner Riesenrad verschwindet der 13-jährige Salim. Ein Jungen-Streich oder ein Verbrechen? Ab 12.