REPORT CARD
bff charm: yay!
swoonworthy scale: 7
talky talk: the real deal, boy-o
bonus factor: second sight
relationship status: high school steady
the deal: it’s 1981 on the border of northern ireland and the republic, at the height of the Troubles, and 18-year-old fergus mccann discovers the body of a young girl in the bog while digging peat with his uncle. all fergus wants is to get three Bs on his a-level exams so he can escape the partisan strife and become a doctor, but instead of studying he has to worry about his brother, who has joined a hunger strike while in prison, his mother, the weird dreams he has about the murdered girl in the bog and the searingly hot daughter of the anthropologist working on the bog child. oh, and being asked to courier mysterious packages back and forth across the border for his brother’s provo friend, when what he really wants to do is just stay out of the Troubles and make friends with the young welsh dude who mans the lonely border guard station on the bog.
bff charm: yay!
fergus is a real sweet guy, and easy to sympathize with. who hasn’t had crappy friends who take advantage, or been caught between doing the right thing — for yourself AND others — and doing what pushy people want? also, there are some wicked twists in this book, and fergus def. should have a friend to share a pint or two with afterwards.
swoonworthy scale: 7
the chemistry between fergus and cora is immediate, and when she and her mother stay in the mccann’s spare room (his mom runs a b&b at times), watch out! dude, there’s NO WAY my parents would have let a hot guy sleep in the room next to mine when there was such obvious chemistry, and there’s a REASON for that – which fergus and cora definitely demonstrate. HEL-LO.
talky talk: the real deal, boy-o
this book is way serious (duh – you can’t be all cavalier about the IRA and hunger strikes and republican troubles and friends dying and brothers dying and parents fighting and weird second sight dreams about 2000-year-old murdered girls). also, it was written in ireland by an irish person, so the vocab is all, like, irish and stuff. but it’s not explained every 5 seconds, and i like that — i hated how the harry potter books were “translated” into american english. like we’re all a bunch of dummies who never watch bbc america or something. anyway, i think dowd does a great job capturing the seriousness of the times and fergus’s personal troubles, plus it’s cool that the big stuff in the book — like the hunger strike – is based on true events.
bonus factor: second sight
fergus’s dreams tell the story of what happened to the girl in the bog. it’s a little unbelievable, especially in such a starkly realistic novel, but it’s a cool way to tell the parts of the girl’s story anthropologists wouldn’t be able to.
casting call:
paul ronan as fergus mccann
maybe he’s a bit old, but he has that rough irish charm that suits fergus.
relationship status: high school steady this book was well-written, interesting and solid. it’s not something i could hang onto after heading off to college and being caught up in new, exciting, worldly books, but definitely something i’ll remember fondly.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for finding this book, Meghan! It sounds like a bit of awesome! And a boy with second sight? Wait, an Irish boy with second sight? hot.
dude, i am so glad FYA has a non-shallow reviewer like you, meghan, cos if i saw this book at the store, the title alone would have turned me off. admit it, “bog child” isn’t exactly alluring. in fact it kind of reminds me of tar baby, which then makes me feel uncomfortable and weird. anyway.
but YOU, being the thoughtful reader you are, read the book anyway! siobhan dowd should thank you, actually, for spreading the word on what sounds like a really intriguing book. esp. the irish part. I LOVE IRELAND! soda bread! guinness! emerald fields! cute boys with accents! did i say guinness already?
also i rarely read YA books with male protagonists, so it’s nice to see one that’s realistic and compelling without being about sports.
well, to be honest, i had this book on my shelf for like EVER and finally made myself read it (instead of ally carter’s spy book). i’m glad i did, though! and i totally agree with you about male protags — that’s why i don’t usually read books about boys. fergus does run a lot, but in a totally non jock way, so it’s cool.
it’s definitely a pretty awesome book, esp. if you’re in the mood for a bit of history and some irish melancholy.
p.s. siobhan dowd’s estate (she died in 2007) has a trust for disadvantaged readers, so that makes her extra cool.
I’m just finishing up re-reading the Harry Potter series, and they stopped with that Brit-to-Yank translation after the first two books. I guess they got popular enough that the publisher realized we all freaking know that football means soccer and Mum means Mom.
UM I WILL BE READING THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY. As in, like, yesterday. Hot irish guy with VISIONS trapped in the middle of The Troubles and staying in the same house with a sassy teenage girl (can i rename her “erin”? WHAT THAT IS AN IRISH NAME!)???
SIGN ME UP.
Mere, do you know that today, I was telling someone at work how glorious it was to be on vacation and how I didn’t read once about health care reform, or Afghanistan or anything depressing. And then I said, “the only thing I’m caught up on is the football scores.” And then realized I actually meant soccer. And then I vomited on myself for even thinking about the sport, much less actually knowing the standings of the English Premier League.
I was looking through the book reports to supply ideas for nominations for the BBAW??? and I found this wonderful review of Bog Child. I read BG last fall and it is in my top 20 list. I love the story of Fergus, but at the end of the novel I almost wished the Siobhan Dowd had written a second novel about the bog child, Mel. That in itself would have made an awesome medieval star crossed almost lovers love story. I sobbed when I read what happened to her. Big txs Meghan for the book report. I have also heard good things about one of Dowd’s other novels, A Pure Swift Cry. It is a shame to lose such a gifted writer so early in her career.
wait, wait, what happened to her?!
ok i just read her wiki and oh man. i knew she had passed away but i figured it was cos she was old. breast cancer, i hate you!!!
dang, what a way to start a morning. THANKS A LOT, HEATHER.
ooh, great idea, heather! i love love love historical fiction, and the story about mel was one of my favorite parts of this novel. i have been meaning to check out dowd’s other work — thanks for the reminder!