The year is 1921. Ireland has been at war for two years. Communities are torn apart by bitter hatred - and now a hard border splits the island.

In Belfast, Helen's Hope hostel is a progessive space where young women live and work together - a haven of tolerance and diversity in a fractured city. But some people hate Helen's Hope and its values.

Another pitch-perfect historical novel from the prize-winning author of Star by Star.

'Funny, moving and full of wisdom, Hope Against Hope shows Sheena Wilkinson is a writer at the top of her game.' - Jan Carson, author of The Fire Starters, winner of the EU Prize for Literature 2019

About the Author

Sheena Wilkinson is one of Ireland's most acclaimed writers of fiction for young people. Star by Star (Little Island, 2017) was selected as a BookTrust Future Classic in 2018 and won the Honour Award for Fiction at the Children's Books Ireland awards 2018. Grounded (Little Island, 2012) won the Book of the Year and Children's Choice awards at the Children's Books Ireland awards 2013. A recipient of special bursaries from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for the development of her writing, Sheena is now a full time author and writing teacher. Her books have also won awards from the Reading Association of Ireland and have been placed on the IBBY Honour List.

Sheena lives in County Down in Northern Ireland, where she spends her time writing, singing, and walking in the forest thinking up more stories.

Reviews

"Ideal for thoughtful teenage readers and adults alike."

-- Sarah Webb * The Irish Independent *

"Wilkinson effortlessly weaves an emotive tale set in a tumultuous time, a skill which makes her latest novel for teens stand out from the crowd."

-- Denise O'Donoghue * Irish Examiner *

"The school story appreciation also enables an historically accurate framework for contemplating alternative sexual orientations...It's an incredibly satisfying treatment of the topic, one of many "issues" touched upon in a moving, clever novel that expertly depicts how the big political concerns of the day impact on individual lives."

-- Claire Hennessy * The Irish Times *

"Set in a women's hostel in a newly-partitioned island, Wilkinson again presents motivated believable female characters in entirely convincing historical conditions, taking control of their own lives and impacting on others'. The writer is an Arts Council Major Artist and has a formidable narrative gift and an acute sense of historical justice."

* Belfast Telegraph *

"Stands out for its empathetic exploration of living through a watershed historical moment."

* Publishers Weekly *

"Give to readers who love historical fiction and are eager for an engaging story."

* School Library Journal *

"Entertaining, vivid, and sympathetic."

* Kirkus Reviews *

"Exceptionally well written with a thoroughly young reader friendly treatment of such sensitive issues as war, discrimination, hatred, survival and reconciliation, "Hope Against Hope" by Irish author Sheena Wilkinson is especially and unreservedly recommended as an addition to elementary school, middle school, and community library historical fiction collections for children ages 10-14."

* Midwest Book Review-Children's Bookwatch *


Awards
Winner of Children's Book Council - Notable Social Studies Trade Book Award 2024. Short-listed for An Post Irish Book Awards: Dept 51 @ Eason Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year 2020 and KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards 2021.



Book Information
ISBN 9781912417421
Author Sheena Wilkinson
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Little Island
Publisher Little Island
Weight(grams) 200g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 16mm