Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
May 5, 2017/in Fiction 10-14 Middle/Secondary /by Angie Hill
BfK Rating:
BfK 224 May 2017
Reviewer: Matthew Martin
ISBN: 978-1911370048
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 10-14 Middle/Secondary
Length: 112pp
Buy the Book

The Pavee and the Buffer Girl

Author: Siobhan DowdIllustrator: Emma Shoard

Siobhan Dowd first wrote this story for an anthology on racism. Reissued now as a graphic novel with expressive illustrations by Emma Shoard the story has lost none of its power to move readers; the spare text is as powerful and direct as when first written, while the story feels unsettlingly current.

Young Jim Curran is a Traveller, a Pavee in his own language. He and his family have recently arrived in an Irish seaside town and are immediately met with suspicion and hostility. The town’s young people share their parents’ attitudes and Jim and his cousins are labelled ‘dirty Gyps’, ‘tinker-stinkers’, the name-calling soon turning to physical attacks. Not all the Buffers (non-Travellers) are cruel: there’s a kind man in the chip shop, once a Pavee himself, the school librarian looks out for Jim, and then there’s Kit, a girl in Jim’s class who is almost as much an outsider as he is. Jim and Kit become secret friends, meeting in a cave in the cliffs, sharing more than one ‘short kiss in the dark under the dripping stalactites’. Their relationship is beautifully depicted, a real tenderness between the boy and the girl he thinks of as his skylark.

Meanwhile the hostility of the rest of the community continues, culminating in two shocking incidents: Jim’s little cousin Declan is so badly bullied he ends up in hospital, and the local police raid the Travellers’ camp, smashing their possessions and threatening more harassment. The family decide to leave, not just the town, but Ireland itself. Jim has to say goodbye to Kit though for this reader anyway, there’s a feeling that one day he might return.

Siobhan Dowd worked for the rights of Travellers and her book gives real insight into their lives, not just the prejudice they endure, but the warmth and closeness of their communities. At a time when hostility to those regarded as ‘other’ or outsiders seems almost entrenched in society, this powerful, beautifully told story seems ever more important.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Angie Hill http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Angie Hill2017-05-05 19:08:002021-06-21 18:10:01The Pavee and the Buffer Girl

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Margaret McDonald and her editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu win the 2025 Branford Boase Award

July 9, 2025

‘The magic of poetry by heart’ Champions of the 2025 National Poetry Speaking Competition Announced

July 8, 2025
IBC

New National Year of Reading launching January 2026

July 8, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Frogkisser! Mold and the Poison Plot
Scroll to top