Name Upon Name by Sheena Wilkinson In Children's Literature

Name Upon Name by Sheena Wilkinson In Children's Literature

Belfast in 1916. Fourteen-year-old Helen is shaped by her mixed background – rural, Catholic Irish values from mum Kathleen; urban, Protestant Ulster ones from dad James. Her parents are relaxed in their politics but others in the family circle are more extreme – Aunt Violet is a die-hard anti-Home Ruler, more British than the king, while Uncle Sean is staunchly nationalist. These are the parents of Helen’s older cousins:  Sandy, who joined the army straight from school and has already seen action in France, and Michael, who runs away from home to enlist. But before he leaves for France, Michael is deployed to Dublin to help quell the Rising, where he’s expected to open fire on his fellow Irishmen. Who and what are they fighting for?

The story of a young girl caught between the Easter Rising, the outbreak of World War 1 and a divided Ireland

‘History is rarely clean and simple; the beauty of this book is that it embraces that complexity’ 

Sheena Wilkinson has been established as one of Ireland’s most acclaimed writers of contemporary realistic fiction for young people. Winner of multiple Children’s Books Ireland awards and recipient of special bursaries from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for the development of her writing, Sheena is now a full time author and writing teacher living in Belfast.