The Chosen Child by Janet O’Leary 978-1-0685633-2-4
€18.00This wonderful story follows Peadar, a teenage boy living in the human realm, and Lucy, a teenage girl living in the fairy realm called Fairyland. Peadar and Lucy met two years prior to the start of the story when Peadar travelled to Fairyland to rescue his parents from a wicked wizard.
The Chosen Child is written as a sequel but works equally well as a stand-alone read. Peadar and Lucy, the central characters in the novel, have grown up a bit since the first book and are now fourteen years old. The passing of two years has brought changes for both of them. Peadar is now back living with his parents and in 2nd year at school. During those two years, he has not been able to forget Lucy, the human child he met briefly in Fairyland while on a rescue mission. Lucy is a stolen child and has lived in the fairy realm since infancy. As everyone knows, a stolen child can never return to the human realm but what seems impossible has not stopped Peadar from trying in the past. He is certain that they are meant to be together and that Lucy belongs back in the human world.
The story opens with a letter, inside a birthday card, which has just managed to arrive from the human realm in time for Lucy’s fourteenth birthday. The letter reignites the deep connection the pair experienced when they first met. And so the adventure begins which takes the reader on a journey with Peadar and Lucy to try and bring her back to her place of birth. It is a story of courage and determination, the stirrings of first love, and the importance of true and trusted friendship in the pursuit and realisation of a dream. This book will appeal to a readership of 10 to 15-year-olds and those preparing for the adventure of secondary school.