Book Club

You are invited to join the Paper Lanterns teen and YA book club! With every issue we will pick an excellent book to read. Tell your friends, your teacher, your librarian, your bookseller. Gather a group together to meet and chat about the book, and join us online!

We’ll be discussing our thoughts, looking for book recommendations and sharing a writing prompts! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and our website, so be sure to follow us!

Issue 14: Something Terrible Happened Last Night by Sam Blake

It’s Katie’s 17th birthday – the dancefloor is packed, the drink is flowing and Rave-fess, the Raven’s Hill School confession site, is alight with gossip. Then a huge fight breaks out, sending guests fleeing. When Frankie, Jess and Sorcha go back to help Katie clear up her wrecked house before her parents get home, they find more than broken bottles … There’s a body on the living room floor.

In an interview on writing.ie Blake said that “In YA I felt that there’s a bit less description of characters – enough so the reader can identify them, but not so much that they can’t form their own picture of them. For a YA reader, it’s less important that a flower bed contains hostas, than a sea of blue flowers – it’s the action and what’s happening beside the flowerbed that’s important.”

She also said “For me, story is all about character, so when I started thinking about the plot, and the mystery, I began with our sleuths. It is really important to me that my reader can identify with the characters, and can perhaps see themselves and their friends in the story, so that meant making sure everyone came from different backgrounds and had different hopes and aspirations.”

These two quotations may sound contradictory, but they sum up Blake’s tremendous talent for showing, not telling, a story. There are so many characters involved in this mystery that readers are sure to identify with someone. It is easy to feel a connection to the story because the characters are so relatable. With that in mind, here are a few questions to get your discussion going:

 1. Blake’s characters are mostly well-off private school students who live in a posh suburb of Dublin. What makes this setting so attractive to readers? Why is the mystery so engaging for a wide variety of readers?

2. Social media and mobile phones function like an added character in the story. Often in YA books, social media is the enemy, but Blake shows it in a different light. Sorcha and Jess are main characters that don’t go to the party, who sit outside the action. What is their motivation and purpose for the story?

3. Blake uses dialogue to tell the story, and the part that is narrative is often one character wondering about another, as an internal monologue. She doesn’t describe the action, most of it is learned through the characters’ conversations and thoughts. Do you think dialogue helps the story feel like it is happening in real time, and gives it a quick pace? Or are you a reader who was left wondering what was really going on behind all the chat?

4. The book is divided into three sections: Before, The Party, and After. “Before” is a countdown to the party, but the prologue takes place after the party and some early chapters flash back in time. What is the effect of this time hop on the reader? How does it work in relation to the main event, the party?

Read the interview on Writing.ie here: www.writing.ie/interviews/somethingterrible- sam-blakes-ya-debut/

You can learn more about Sam Blake here: www.samblakebooks.com.

Issue 13: These are the Words by Nikita Gill

Reclaim your agency. Discover your power. Find the words.

Taking you on a journey through the seasons of the soul, in this collection Nikita gives you the words to help heal from your first breakup, to celebrate finding your family, to understand first love, to express your anger and your joy, to fight for what you believe in and to help you break some rules to be your truest self. Gorgeously illustrated throughout by Nikita herself and featuring seasonal astrological poetry, this collection is an achingly beautiful, stunningly warm and fearless expression of truth from one of the most influential and well-known voices in modern poetry.

Prompts

Did you have a favourite poem in this book? What drew you to it?

These poems are accompanied by illustrations by the poet. How can words and drawings work together in a book?

The poems are divided into seasons, and much of the poetry refers to nature. What is the effect of using nature and seasons to compare the experiences in the poems? 

These Are The Words is a powerful exploration of girlhood, growing up, feminism, and protest. Can you identify any common threads through the poems? 

The poet often shares work on her social media sites (@nikita_gill on Instagram, @nktgill on X/Twitter). Some of the poems in this collection have “In 150 Characters or Less” in the title, reflecting the form of the poem. Does social media influence the form and content of work? Discuss how social media can influence how we consume poetry.

This book explores what Gill wished someone had told her when she was younger. What advice would you like to tell yourself? Create a work of art inspired by your advice. It can be a collage, a poster, a poem, music – anything you like!

Issue 12: Noah Can’t Even by Simon James Green

His father disappeared years ago, his mother’s Beyoncé tribute act is an unacceptable embarrassment, and his beloved gran is no longer herself. He only has one friend, Harry, and school is…Well, it’s pure HELL. Why can’t Noah be normal, like everyone else at school? Maybe if he struck up a romantic relationship with someone – maybe Sophie, who is perfect and lovely he’d be seen in a different light? But Noah’s plans are derailed when Harry kisses him at a party. And that’s when things go from bad to utter chaos.

Prompts

Noah Grimes is an awkward boy, to say the least. How did Simon James Green manage to capture these awkward traits through his writing? As a teen reader, how did you find yourself relating to Noah – or Sophie or Harry – throughout the book?

This book deals with LGBTQ+ themes. How does Simon James Green use humour to discuss these themes? Do you think the use of comedic writing helps when opening up the conversation about such themes?

In a time where LGBTQ+ books in libraries around the world are being challenged (again), why are books like Noah Can’t Even important to keep in libraries and schools?

Issue 11: The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

When fifteen-year-old Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants – as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, which only gets harder once Flávia walks into her life. Beautiful and charismatic, Flávia takes Nishat’s breath away. But as their lives become tangled, they’re caught up in a school rivalry that gets in the way of any feelings they might have for each other. As the competition heats up, Nishat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance.

The Henna Wars is more than just a sweet romance, it is a story that tests friendships, exposes family dynamics and uncovers truths about school life while it weaves in questions of identity, racism, homophobia, bullying, loyalty and selfishness. It is a descriptive and realistic look at what living in multicultural Ireland is like for secondary school students today, and it asks all readers to think hard about who we are and the kind of friends we want to be.

Prompts

Identity impacts Nishat in so many ways – her sexuality, her religion, her family role (sister, daughter, etc.). We all have many identities, but perhaps one is more obvious or more important to us than others. If you had to describe yourself in three words, which three words would you choose?

When Nishat is outed as a lesbian at school, Priti is the only person who tries to support her. How do you think Nishat felt about this? If you were one of her friends, what might you have done differently?

When Nishat discovers Flavia and Chyna are also doing henna designs for their business project, she accuses them of cultural appropriation. What is cultural appropriation and why do you think Nishat was upset about it? Chyna calls selling Korean trinkets and henna ‘trendy’. Nishat and her friends feel strongly that these aren’t trends. Why do you think they take issue with the word ‘trendy’? 

We only get to see Nishat’s perspective, with just a few bits of the story where other characters show the reader how they see it. Would the story be different if we’d seen Flávia’s side? Or Priti’s?

Nishat says practising henna makes her feel closer to Nanu, who lives far away. Do you have any family traditions that connect you, especially with family members who don’t live close by?

Many thanks to Hachette Schools for inspiring these discussion questions

Issue 10: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor is the new girl in town and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldn’t stick out more if she tried.

Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black T-shirts, headphones, head in a book — he thinks he’s made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor.

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mixtapes, Eleanor and Park fall in love.

Eleanor & Park is the funny, sad, shocking and ultimately unforgettable story of two teenagers’ struggles over the course of one school year, in 1986.

Prompts

Eleanor and Park come from different worlds but music allows them to create a shared experience. Why do you think this is?

Romeo and Juliet is referenced frequently throughout the novel. How does Romeo and Juliet’s story resemble that of Eleanor and Park’s?

To what extent does poverty shape Eleanor’s circumstances and the obstacles she faces? How much does shame play a part in Eleanor’s problems? Would it be easier for her to ask for help if she wasn’t so embarrassed?

After Park’s mother realises she and Eleanor have comparable childhoods, her opinion of Eleanor transforms. When Tina discovers she and Eleanor have similar home lives, their relationship changes. How important is it to find common ground with others? Can you have empathy without it?

What do you think are the three words Eleanor writes on the postcard to Park? In your opinion, why did the author choose to end the story ambiguously?

Is there any difference between the stories your friends tell and the stories your family tell? What is important about each kind of story? What makes a story universal? Would you like to know exactly what the postcard says or would you prefer its message to remain a mystery?

This story is set in the 1980s. How do you think it would differ if it took place now? Would Eleanor and Park find a way to connect? Would they still fall in love?

Issue 9: Why the Moon Travels by Oein DeBhairduin

Why the Moon Travels is a haunting collection of twenty tales rooted in the oral tradition of the Irish Traveller community. Brave vixens, prophetic owls and stalwart horses live alongside the human characters as guides, protectors, friends and foes while spirits, giants and fairies blur the lines between this world and the otherworld.

These stories were collected by Oein throughout his childhood, and he introduces each story by placing it within a memory of when he remembers hearing it told to him. It is as if the stories are told within stories, showing that our lives are made up of stories, layered or woven together: those we tell ourselves and tell others, those we remember and those we share.

When we think of the art of storytelling, we often think of the stories that are spoken aloud to us. However stories can be told, written or drawn — there’s no end to how we tell our stories. A spoken story told to a group affects us differently than one we read to ourselves privately.

Prompts

How would you translate a story you tell your friends at a party to one you write down?

Is there any difference between the stories your friends tell and the stories your family tell? What is important about each kind of story? What makes a story universal?

Is there any difference between the stories your friends tell and the stories your family tell? What is important about each kind of story? What makes a story universal?

Write a story based on family lore or family history. Compare how your story may be different from when a family member tells it. Why do stories have so many different tellings?

DeBhairduin paints a picture of his childhood by choosing certain stories to tell us, and framing them within stories of his childhood. If you had to choose three stories that painted a picture of your life, which three would you choose?

---

Issue 8: All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue

Maeve Chambers doesn’t have much going for her. Not only does she feel like the sole idiot in a family of geniuses, she managed to drive away her best friend Lily a year ago. But when she finds a pack of dusty old tarot cards at school, and begins to give scarily accurate readings to the girls in her class, she realizes she’s found her gift at last. Things are looking up – until she discovers a strange card in the deck that definitely shouldn’t be there. And two days after she convinces her ex-best friend to have a reading, Lily disappears. Can Maeve, her new friend Fiona and Lily’s brother Roe find her? And will their special talents be enough to bring Lily back, before she’s gone for good?

Prompts

Main characters in novels often face injustice or are betrayed. However, in this novel the protagonist Maeve has done something terrible to drive her best friend Lily away. Discuss whether this makes Maeve a sympathetic character. Is she punished for being unkind, or is she allowed to make mistakes? Do you think Maeve grows and changes over the course of this book?

The relationships between siblings and family are complex and often a source of stress in this novel. Compare the different characters’ family dynamics. What expectations are placed on Maeve, Lily, Fiona and Roe? How do these expectations influence them?

In this book, witchcraft, the supernatural and folklore are intertwined with real issues and injustices affecting people today. How are real fundamentalist groups similar or different to The Children of Brigid?

Maeve is growing up in modern-day Ireland, but the current social battles have their roots in the past. Discuss how the struggles in the modern day and the past reflect or are different from each other.

Want to continue the conversation? More discussion points on All Our Hidden Gifts can be found on walker.co.uk and you can read Caroline’s author corner in Issue 8.

Reviews

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue reviewed by James Keegan

The Gifts That Bind Us by Caroline O’Donoghue reviewed by Amy Clarkin

---

Issue 7: The Loop by Ben Oliver.

For this issue, we are reading Ben Oliver’s The Loop. This is a futuristic, dystopian thriller, which tells Luka’s story, one of the many teen prisoners of The Loop. Set in a world in the brink of war, all the teen prisoners are forced to undergo human experiments to “help” the wealthy and healthy upper classes of this new society. A sentence to The Loop means certain death — but who knows when, or how, that might happen… 

Themes

When humanity is on the brink of self-destruction, what happens when “survival of the fittest” becomes survival of the wealthy? With the prospect of global war on the horizon, Luka and his fellow inmates might actually be safer staying on the inside — but when the opportunity arises to break free, he and his friends can only think about saving their families on the outside. 

Prompts

Dystopian fiction focuses on a world or state where there is great suffering and injustice.  In this world, the elite classes can afford the scientific treatments to become “Alts” (people who have been “altered” in order to be physically advanced) —  at the expense of others’ lives. In our world, we use the expression, “Your health is your wealth”. Discuss how this society puts a value on a human life and health, and how it might differ (or compare) to our world. 

Dystopian novels often look at the world we live in and take an aspect of our society and push it to the extreme. In this instance, The Loop pushes the idea of our human rights to an extreme level of imbalance. Discuss the idea of human rights in this book: prisoners vs. free people; healthy vs. unhealthy; rich vs. poor. Can you think of any other examples? 

Imagine you were an “Alt” living in this world with a sense of justice, like Wren the prison warden. How would you secretly rebel against the system to help those less fortunate than you?

You can read more from Ben Oliver in our author’s corner in Issue 7

Issue 6: Guard Your Heart by Sue Divin.

Our chosen book for Issue 6 is Guard Your Heart by Sue Divin. This is the story of two 18-year olds born on the day of the Northern Ireland peace agreement. Aidan and Iona come from very different backgrounds on opposite sides of the northern Irish conflict, yet they feel irrevocably drawn to one another. The Troubles are over, so why does it still feel like everything is conspiring to keep them apart?

Themes:
Some people consider this a Romeo & Juliet story. The themes of conflict, violence, grief and neglect dominate. One of the book’s messages is how the past can haunt the present in ways we don’t always see. Aidan and Iona are frustrated about how decisions made long before they were born limit how they can live their lives. It shows how conflict and violence from the past are still part of young people’s lives in the north of Ireland.

Prompts:

1. In the author’s note, Sue says: “It’s about understanding and respecting diversity, listening and talking, changing unfair systems and engaging with the issues. Failure to do this hands the space over to extremists and propaganda. Don’t take peace for granted.” What does she mean by “handing the space over” to extremists? How do we keep the peace, or keep fighting for peace? What do you think is worth fighting for?

2. Goodreads reviewer Rebecca Hughes said, “NI has gone from Civil War to Cold War, but it hasn’t yet reached peace and this novel represents that beautifully. It’s nice for our generation to be seen for once.” What do you think she means by “cold war”? Do you think Guard Your Heart helps your generation be seen?

3. Think about the main themes and create a message of hope for the future.

If you liked this book … try A Pho Love Story by Loan Le, Boys Don’t Cry by Fiona Scarlett, The Troubles with Us by Alix O’Neill, Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd, and The Twelfth Day of July by Joan Lingard.

Issue 5

Our chose book for issue 5 is The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth.

Seventeen-year-old Saoirse doesn’t believe in falling in love or “Happily Ever After”. Her mother is in a care home with early onset dementia, and her dad is remarrying at the end of the summer. But then she meets Ruby — romcom-loving, mischievous, beautiful Ruby — who convinces Saoirse to embrace a summer of fun and romance with her. Without all the serious parts of a relationship, the girls agree they will end their summer romance when autumn comes. But what happens when Ruby starts to believe in the possibility of falling in love?

Ciara Smyth’s novel won this year’s Junior Juries’ Award at the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards.

---

Issue 4

Our chosen book for Issue 4 is The Crooked Mask by Rachel Burge.

In Northern Norway, deep in the woods, lies the Circus of Myth and Mayhem. There, Martha watches the masked performers re-enact stories of the Norse gods, but she has an eerie feeling that all is not as it seems. This is a ghostly, thrilling tale full of mystery, mischief, and mythology.

Rachel Burge has teamed up with the Paper Lanterns book club andhas let us in on her magical writing process. Read about it in issue 4, in our first ever Author’s Corner.

Issue 3

This issue, we’ve decided to choose stories which we see as pre-cursors to Teen and YA literature – tales which we think tick all the boxes for a fantastic YA read, but were around before the term was in use. You can read more about the books and the authors on our Goodreads book club page, Paper Lanterns: Teen & YA Book Club.

Wuthering Heights: A Retelling by Tanya Landman (Barrington Stoke)

Emily Brontë’s classic tale of Cathy and Heathcliff’s passionate and obsessive love is powerfully retold from Cathy’s point of view by Tanya Landman.

Read our review!

---

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin (Virago Modern Classics)

Written when Franklin was still a teenager herself and first published in 1901, this Australian classic recounts the life of 16-year-old Sybylla Melvyn as she finds herself choosing between everything a conventional life offers and her own plans for a ‘brilliant career’

---

Issue 2

After a Twitter and Instagram poll, our readers voted for these two books for Issue Two’s book club! We are delighted that both books selected have excellent LGBTQIA+ representation. You can read more about the books and the authors on our Goodreads book club page, Paper Lanterns: Teen & YA Book Club.

Teen: Flying Tips for Flightless Birds by Kelly McCaughrain is a magical coming of age tale of first love, friendships, family loyalties, and circus life.

---

YA: Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran is a royal fantasy romance, full of intrigue, secrets, and treason.

You can check out our review of Queen of Coin and Whispers here!

---

Issue 1

Teen Pick:

Extraordinary Birds by Sandy Stark-McGinnis
Published by Bloomsbury
A delicate and uplifting story about foster care, loss, and new beginnings

YA Pick:

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Published by Hachette Children’s Group.
A chilling, feminist tale of myth and magic. This is the untold story of Dracula’s brides.