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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
Deaths from starvation depicted; the misery of the famine is historically honest
Language
None
No profanity
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
Starvation and death of neighbors and community members; family separation; the desperation of survival
What this book is about
Nory Ryan, twelve, lives on the rocky coast of Connemara in 1845 when the potato blight strikes. As her family faces starvation, Nory struggles to find food — kelp, fish, anything — while her father is in prison and her oldest sister has emigrated to America. Giff's historical novel about the Irish Famine is both intimate and devastating, centering a resourceful girl's survival.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Starvation and deaths from famine
Family members dying or emigrating
Reader Verification
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