Shirley-Anne McMillan

A Good Hiding

'Be nice to the majority of people and they won't bother you much. Don't get too involved. Have a laugh but keep your distance.' These are the words 16-year-old Cariad lives by. She's just been placed in yet another foster home, this time with an elderly Christian couple in a small town off the coast of Northern Ireland. Cariad knows how to play this game. She'll toe the line just enough that her new foster parents don't ask what she gets up to when the sun goes down, just enough that they leave her alone. It's easier that way. But when a boy at school disappears - presumed dead - and no one seems to care, it really bothers her. Then one night out walking on the clifftops, she sees him and he asks her to keep his secret. Don't get too involved. Have a laugh but keep your distance. These are the words Cariad has lived by . . . until now.

Every Sparrow Falling

Tilly is perched at the top of Belfast's largest crane. She likes to climb up high at night in order to feel free from a city which, despite the best PR, is still full of trouble and conflict. Eventually, she comes back down to discover her bike is missing and in its place is a boy named Brew. Wearing eyeliner and high-heeled boots, he offers her a drink from his flask of coffee before disappearing into the night. The next morning, Tilly's bike is returned, but tucked into the spoke of the wheel is a card with Brew's number on it. As Tilly learns to trust Brew, he leads her into a world she never knew existed - a world of parties in abandoned houses, completing missions that involve break-ins, and risking everything just to help strangers in need; the world of The Unknowns. What Tilly doesn't anticipate is that they will also make her question everything she was brought up to believe in, and force her to make a choice that will stay with her for the rest of her life. The Unknowns is a story about hope in a city where increasing numbers of young people are struggling to get by, a place where there is no trust in the political system, and where some people still dare to dream.

Shirley-Anne McMillan

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