Island of the Strangers

Inishnagal is a deserted island where a band of shipwrecked Spaniards left their grieving voices, after being slaughtered by the local warlord, centuries ago. Now, in the twentieth century, the villagers who live across the causeway from the haunted island revive xenophobic passions against a school party of town kids who arrive for a field trip. Nora stands alone against this tide of hatred. An unflinching book, written in the plain, vivid register of Nora's speech. There's a positive note in the conclusion, but the author eschews an evasively neat and happy ending. Able readers will find this a tense and thought-provoking book.