HOPE AGAINST HOPE

It is 1921. War has raged in Ireland for more than two years. Helen's Hope in Belfast is a hostel for girls, a feminist and non-sectarian space. Stella refuses to use the work of her girls to make political symbols, but her resistance leads eventually to a violent attack on the hostel. Nothing could be more apposite at this moment than a novel about how hard borders and political division drive wedges into the hearts of communities.

Sheena Wilkinson is one of the UK's most acclaimed writers of fiction for young people. Her 2017 novel Star by Star was chosen as a BookTrust Future Classic and won the Honour Award for Fiction at the Children's Books Ireland Awards 2018. She has previously published six novels with Little Island Books, winning such awards as the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year, Children's Books Ireland Children's Choice Award, a White Raven and a place on the IBBY Honour List. She lives in Belfast and is a full-time writer.