Can you, would you, tell me about Ireland?"

"Tell you about Ireland? Oh, my dear, nothing would give me greater pleasure." Mrs. O'Malley gazed into the fire than now glowed brightly and made the tiny room cozy and warm. But she was not seeing the fire. She had a look that Papa sometimes got when he talked about Ireland, a far-off look of longing.

"I mind my father sitting by the turf fire puffing on his clay pipe and telling stories of mighty giants, of fairies and leprechauns and all things in between heaven and earth. You see, my dear, Ireland was an empire, not of marching soldiers and mighty armies, but of the imagination."

All Penny has ever wanted is to be at home with her family, but during the last two years, her family has been slipping further and further away. It began with her mother's death. After that there was a terrible explosion in Halifax harbor that left Penny, her father, and her two younger sisters homeless. And now, while her father builds them another house, the children have been shuffled off to stay with relatives. The younger girls are with an aunt in Toronto, and Penny is living with her Grandmother Underhill (her mother's mother) in Montreal.

     An Irish Penny is the third book in the Penelope series of Penguin's "Our Canadian Girl." As the novel opens, we find Penny bravely doing her best to adapt to life in her well-to-do grandmother's home. She minds her manners, attends to her studies, and does her best to stay in her grandmother's good graces. She is grateful to have a roof over her head, but it doesn't help her to feel loved. Consequently, she misses her father and sisters desperately and wonders when she is going to see them again.

     As Penny begins classes at a private school for girls, she soon discovers that she is an outcast. Because she is half-Irish (on her father's side), many of her snobby classmates call her names and hold her in low esteem. Penny doesn't understand why, at least not until she has a few insightful talks with Mrs. O'Malley, the mother of a young Irishman who works for her grandmother.

     Then, with her pride and dignity once more intact, Penny voices what she has learned in a paper for history class. When her work receives recognition from the head of the school at Parent-Teacher Evening, most people in attendance are forced to rethink their position on the Irish. However, the mother of the girl who has given Penny the most grief is unmoved and approaches Grandmother Underhill with condolences for having to tolerate someone of Penny's unfortunate breeding. Needless to say, she is eloquently chewed up and spit out and slinks away with her tail between her legs.

     If this were not astonishing enough on its own, Penny is further stunned and ecstatic to learn that her grandmother is bringing all of Penny's family to Montreal for Christmas.

     No doubt that will be the subject for Penelope: Book Four.

     As with all the "Our Canadian Girl" books, the writing in this novel is first class, the history accurate and appropriate to the story, the themes timeless, and the plot complex enough to hold the interest of young readers.

Recommended.

Kristin Butcher lives in Victoria, BC, and writes for children.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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