Hope Against Hope

It’s 1921. Ireland has been at war with Britain for two years. When Polly’s brother Leo returns from war, it’s like he’s turned into a different person. After he turns violent, Polly runs away to Helen’s Hope hostel in Belfast, where Catholic and Protestant girls live and work together while around them Ireland is at war with itself. But some people hate Helen’s Hope because of what it stands for. How can a few girls stand up to hatred ― when some of it comes from within their own walls? And when the hostel is violently attached, how can Polly keep hope alive?

Sheena Wilkinson is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed writers of fiction for young people. Star by Star (Little Island, 2017) was selected as a BookTrust Future Classic in 2018 and won the Honour Award for Fiction at the Children's Books Ireland awards 2018. Grounded (Little Island, 2012) won the Book of the Year and Children's Choice awards at the Children's Books Ireland awards 2013. A recipient of special bursaries from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for the development of her writing, Sheena is now a full time author and writing teacher. Her books have also won awards from the Reading Association of Ireland and have been placed on the IBBY Honour List. Sheena lives in County Down in Northern Ireland, where she spends her time writing, singing, and walking in the forest thinking up more stories.