Portsalon author Isla McGuckin shortlisted for Children’s Books Ireland Awards

Isla McGuckin, an author living in Postsalon, has been shortlisted for the 2024 KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards for her book ‘April’s Garden.’

The shortlist for the 34th annual awards was announced by RTÉ broadcaster Rick O’Shea at a special event in the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast.

Isla is a writer and a mother of daughters. Born and raised in urban Yorkshire, Isla is now based in rural Donegal. Published by Graffeg, ‘April’s Garden’ is illustrated by Catalina Echeverri and is an inventive, colourful début picture-book exploring a mother and daughter’s search for a new home.

The shortlisted titles, which include five début writers and three current or former Laureates na nÓg, or Children’s Laureates, will compete for six awards at the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards ceremony, held May 22 in partnership with the International Literature Festival Dublin. These include the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Award, as well as honours for fiction, illustration and the Junior Juries’ Award which will be decided by young readers across the island of Ireland.

The full shortlist of books for 2024 includes:

1. April’s Garden, an inventive, colourful début picturebook exploring a mother and daughter’s search for a new home, written by Isla McGuckin and illustrated by Catalina Echeverri (Graffeg).

2. Catfish Rolling, a début teenage novel situated between modern-day Japan in the wake of a deadly earthquake and a magical dimension rich in mythological notes, by Clara Kumagai (Zephyr).

3. Global, a graphic novel spotlighting the interconnectedness of our world and the impact of the climate crisis. This is the second book in the series from writers Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, and illustrator Giovanni Rigano (Hodder Children’s Books).

4. My Life as a Chameleon, a poignant début novel which follows sixteen-year-old Lily as she finds herself in an upheaval that takes her from Nigeria and Manchester, written by Diana Anyakow (Zephyr).

5. The First Move, a teenage romance which follows the budding relationship of chess-loving Ronan and Juliet in contemporary Northern Ireland. This is the début novel by Jenny Ireland (Penguin Random House).

6. The Girl Who Fell to Earth, a science fiction novel set in contemporary Dublin which explores the concerns of our time through the eyes of a new visitor to earth, by the current Laureate na nÓg, Patricia Forde (Little Island Books).

7. The Hare-Shaped Hole, a gentle story about loss and acceptance which draws on familiar characters from the tale of the turtle and the hare, by author John Dougherty and illustrator Thomas Docherty (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books).

8. Three Tasks for a Dragon, an evocative tale which follows unlikely hero Prince Lir and not-so-helpless maiden Cethlenn, by two former laureates for children, author Eoin Colfer and illustrator P.J. Lynch (Walker Books).

9. Treacle Town, a gritty teenage novel set in Scotland which explores toxic masculinity, gangland violence, social deprivation and the power of slam poetry, by author Brian Conaghan (Anderson Press).

10. Wider Than the Sea, a lyrical, uplifting novel about a spirited young girl who struggles at school and finds solace through an unlikely friendship with a dolphin named Sunny. This début novel by Serena Molly features dyslexic-friendly blank verse with illustrations by George Ermos (Hodder Children’s Books).