Since its first publication in 1990, Marita Conlon-McKenna's Under the Hawthorn Tree has broken all records for sales of an Irish-published children's book, has won national and international awards, and has been translated into Danish, Swedish, Dutch, French, German, Japanese as well as selling editions in the US. It tells the story of three children left to fend for themselves during the horror of the Great Irish Famine. Now, for the first time, the book is being made available in the Irish language, as Faoin Sceach Gheal, translated by Mire Nic Mhaolin. Scal achtach ar an Drochshaol, agus ar thrir ga a shraonn gach guais lena linn. I ndaichid an nao haois dag t ire I ngreim ag an ngorta. Nuair a imonn m-dh ar a dteaghlach fin, fgtar Eibhln, Michel agus Peig le danamh as dibh fin. Le hal n ocras agus theach na mbocht, cuireann siad sa sil. Is a n-aon dchas dul chomh fada leis na seanaintn a mbodh a mthair ag scalaocht orthu. Tugann siad aghaidh go misniil ar an aistear fada anriteach, agus gn acu ar feadh an achair d bhfuil de shracadh agus de ghr agus de dhlseacht ina gcro.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book is part of a book series called Children Of the Famine .

This book has been graded for interest at 10 years.

There are 176 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2012 by O'Brien Press Ltd .

Marita Conlon-McKenna is one of Ireland's bestselling novelists, writing both for children and adults. Her children's book UNDER THE HAWTHORN TREE has sold more than 500, 000 copies. Marita lives in the Stilorgan area of Dublin with her husband and four children.