Deadly Shot - Dan's Diary
by Patricia Murphy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: children's historical
fiction/Middle Grade
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BLURB:
Football
mad, twelve- year- old Dan is a trusted messenger for Ireland’s rebel leader,
Michael Collins. He promises his cousin Molly to never fire a gun, but after
the dramatic events of “Bloody Sunday” in Croke Park, he is pulled deeper into
the struggle. Hunted by a vengeful Intelligence Officer, Molly and Dan are
forced to flee Dublin. But unknown to Dan, he holds the key to a deadly plot.
And his enemy will stop at nothing to track him down. On the run, they meet
Flying Columns and narrowly escape death But as Cork burns can Dan continue to
outrun his enemy?
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Excerpt :
The mean-faced
Tan moved forward and cocked a gun in my direction. “You with the ball! Stop,
you little Fenian brat, or I’ll shoot!”
He advanced
towards me, his eyes flaming down the barrel of the gun. I thought I was going
to wet myself with fear.
On impulse, I
skied the ball straight up to heaven. It soared higher than the rooftops.
Everyone tilted their heads. From the corner of my eye I glimpsed the young
rebel making a run for it towards Saint Andrew’s church on the opposite side of
the road.
“POW!” a shot
rang out.
I prayed it
wasn’t the rebel. But the lifeless thud of my ball was almost as bad. The Tan
had shot my dearest possession. But they hadn’t even seen the gunman!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Patricia Murphy is an award-winning children’s author and
Producer/Director of documentaries. Her most recent novel is Deadly Shot –
Dan’s Diary - the War of Independence 1920-22. Previous works include the
critically acclaimed Easter Week 1916 – Molly’s Diary, described as
“brilliantly imagined”, “beautifully written and compelling” and “ fantastic at
bringing history alive for children”. She is also the author of The Chingles
Celtic Fantasy trilogy. She was the winner of the Poolbeg “Write a Bestseller
for Children” Competition 2004.
She is also an award-winning
Producer/Director of primetime documentaries for BBC and Channel 4. These
include Children of Helen House on the Oxford children’s hospice for BBC. She
created and filmed the launch programmes of Born to Be Different the Channel 4
flagship series following six children with disabilities through the 21st
century. Other films include Behind the Crime about criminals and Raised by the
State on growing up in care. She has also made Worst Jobs in History with Tony
Robinson for Channel 4.
Book
Video:
PUBLISHER
Poolbeg
Links to buy Deadly Shot – Dan’s Diary
Links to buy Molly’s Diary
Blog Spot by: Patricia Murphy:
GIVING HISTORY A PULSE - DEADLY SHOT – DAN’S WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
1920-22
PATRICIA MURPHY
How do you
spark young reader’s interest in history? It’s just full of dead people and
facts and old-fashioned dusty things. It all happened a long time ago when the
world was black and white, as my young daughter believes because that’s what
she sees in old photos. My approach is to put the story back into “history”
with a strong plot and give historical figures a pulse by showing them as they
really were at the time. After all, they weren’t always up on a pedestal or in
the graveyard. They were once flesh and blood, ate their dinners, quarreled and
got dressed in the morning. Living their lives in full spectrum color, just as
we do. But I’ve also drawn on my own family history to ground the story.
In my novel Deadly Shot about the 1920’s Irish War
of Independence the main character Dan, is loosely based on my late
grandfather.
When I was
little I was riveted by his account of being a boy scout in 1920’s Ireland. But
he wasn’t just tying rope knots and learning to use flint to light fires. He
belonged to the Fianna, militarist
boy scouts who supported the rebels during Ireland’s guerilla war against the
British. His tales involved being a lookout, running messages for rebel leaders
and burying guns in the local park. He was a wonderful man, and hugely indulgent
to his grandchildren. So I’m fairly confident that he wouldn’t mind how I’ve
expanded his story into a dramatic narrative involving spies and sinister
double agents. Plus a chase that sees the main characters rushing to the Treaty
negotiations in London to stop war breaking out again. He always defended my
overactive imagination!
I also drew on
my fascination with my roots to flesh out the past, an interest that many of us
share judging by the obsession with genealogy. My great-great grandfather was a
Surgeon Major in the British Army stationed in India. He dis-inherited his son,
my great-grandfather because he ran away to sea rather than join the British
navy. Then the black sheep eloped with my great grandmother who was a
Presbyterian, while he was a Catholic. In those days mixed marriages were
frowned upon. My grandfather never met his own granddad. But somehow he inherited
the Indian army ceremonial sword. He and his brother used to play with it down
the park, slashing weeds pretending they were enemy troops in some childish
war-game.
But as they
grew older there was no need to pretend. From 1919-22 Ireland was plunged into
a state of near anarchy during the bitter guerilla war. After the failure of
the 1916 Rising, most of the country now supported the rebel’s aims for an
independent Ireland if not their means. There were shootings, assassinations,
attacks on police barracks and British troops. The British retaliated with the
introduction of specialist counter-terrorist forces “The Black and Tans” and
“The Auxiliaries”, hated for their brutality and reprisals on innocent
civilians.
When my
grandfather told me the exploits of his youth, he never glorified war. He grew
to deplore violence and always emphasized that war and conflict were difficult
times for children.
I also gave Dan
my granddad’s prowess as a footballer. My grandfather was capped for Ireland’s
youth team. While the sword has long vanished, we still have the velvet green
cap. And of course the stories. For stories are part of our inheritance as much
as our genes. They are the DNA or our culture and pass on the values and the
concerns of one generation to the next. I have taken quite a few liberties with
my grandfather’s stories to take us through the narrative of the war of
Independence. But I’ve stayed faithful to the main historical events.
My previous
novel The Easter Rising 1916 – Molly’s
Diary that tells the story of the Easter rebellion through the eyes of a
twelve-year-old girl is now being taught in several schools in Ireland. I have
been getting great feedback from teachers who have told me that it’s the first
time some of their pupils have stayed awake in history class! I’ve also been
delighted to hear that some kids have given the book to their parents and
grandparents to read. I think my grandfather would have been pleased!
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Patricia Murphy will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and
Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading Patricia's blog spot, thank you for sharing! Simply amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you Betty. Glad you enjoyed the post.
DeleteVery interesting post, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVictoria, its a pleasure. I enjoyed writing it.
DeleteSounds like a really good book, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in Eva
DeleteWhat a fun book for kids.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mom Jane. Its really important to me that kids enjoy reading. Books really have to compete against social media so its important to hook their interest and keep them turning the pages!
DeleteThis sounds fun!!
ReplyDeleteThanks to TeresaNoel for hosting and to everyone who stopped by!
ReplyDeletePatricia