Day: November 6, 2025

2025 An Post Irish Book Awards Shortlist

| Tasha

The shortlist for the 2025 An Post Irish Book Awards has been announced. The awards celebrate the best of Irish writing across a variety of genres and categories. Below are the shortlisted titles for the juvenile categories:

CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR – JUNIOR

An Fia sa Choill by Sadhbh Devlin, Anastasia Melynkova (not available in US)

Badger Books by Paddy Donnelly

Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat

Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee by Sinéad O’Hart

Letters to a Monster by Patricia Forde, illustrated by Sarah Warburton

Once I Was a Tree by Eoin McLaughlin, illustrated by Guilherme Karsten (coming to US in March 2026)

Penguin TV by Niamh Sharkey, illustrated by Owen Churcher

Run Home, Little Fox by Tom McCaughren & Erika McGann, Illustrated by Shannon Bergin (not available in US)

CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR – SENIOR

Animalopedia by John and Kathi Burke

Conn of the Dead by Dave Rudden and Ali Al Amine (not available in US)

The Doomsday Club by Kevin Moran

Granny National by Rachael Blackmore with Rachel Pierce

Milly McCarthy and the Haunted House HullaBOOloo by Leona Forde, illustrated by Karen Harte

Nina Peanut: Epic World Tour Era by Sarah Bowie

TEEN/YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR

Any Way You Slice It by Méabh McDonnell

Matched Up by Jenny Ireland

My Name Is Jodie Jones by Emma Shevah

The Rebel and the Rose by Catherine Doyle (releasing in US on December 2)

Solo by Gráinne O’Brien

Shipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue

Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication: July 1, 2025

Reviewed from copy provided by publisher

ISBN: 9781665938129

In 1980, Vision was a teen pop star, singing in front of large crowds. Today, Margot is trying to catch the attention of people online with her music, but her ukulele isn’t cutting it. Margot finds a synthesizer on the side of the road with a sign saying that it’s not haunted. She hauls it home, hoping for her father to teach her to play. But her father deserts Margot and heads to California to become a star once he gets enough online fans. Left behind, Margot starts to learn to play keyboard and that’s when Vision, whose spirit is trapped in the synthesizer, appears. The two girls start to play music together, but is something darker involved with the keyboard and what is the price of chasing external fame?

A marvelous graphic novel for middle-grade readers, this book successfully combines modern online attention culture with throwbacks to the 1980s. The haunted, or not, synthesizer forms a bridge both in music and connection between the two girls, one a ghost and one alive. The message of finding your own happiness rather than seeking external validation is offered in a variety of ways through the story, via Margot’s father, her friends and Vision herself. The art is bright and popping and veers dynamically into horror lighting at times. 

A great graphic novel with a message for our times. Appropriate for ages 8-12.