Little Island News
The Philosophy Resistance Squad by Robert Grant
Little Island Books are pleased to present The Philosophy Resistance Squad by Robert Grant. It publishes on the 3rd of June. Korean rights were sold for a 5-figure sum following a 3-way auction. This middle-grade debut introduces philosophical concepts via a thrilling story. Milo is delighted to be starting at the country’s fanciest, shiniest, most prestigious school. But it soon becomes clear that something sinister is going on. The headmaster, Dr Pummelcrush, is bent on brainwashing the students and turning them into mindless human robots. Then Milo meets a retired art teacher who introduces him and his classmates to a whole new way of thinking: philosophy. Can the Philosophy Resistance Squad use their new questioning skills to resist Pummelcrush and save their classmates from being zombified?
About Robert Grant
Robert Grant is a philosophy tutor at Trinity College Dublin. He runs philosophy workshops in primary schools, encouraging children to develop their analytic thinking skills. He wrote and directed a documentary about philosophy in schools, Why We Should Teach Philosophy in Schools, which aired on RTÉ television in September 2019. This is his first book for children.
Deirdre Sullivan and Karen Vaughan Win KPMG CBI Book of the Year
Deirdre Sullivan and Karen Vaughan have won the Book of the Year award at the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland awards for Savage Her Reply.
The announcement was made on the 25th of May in an online ceremony hosted by Rick O’Shea, and shared as part of the International Literature Festival.
Deirdre said: “It means a huge amount as a writer to receive recognition from an organisation like Children’s Books Ireland that does such necessary and powerful work for Ireland’s young readers. Savage Her Reply was a book that allowed me to interrogate old stories, but also to connect with them and the vast amount they still have to offer us. Aífe’s isolation from the world around her, her struggles with her mental health and the abuse she experiences as a young woman are oddly prescient right now.”
Karen said: “Being recognised by Children’s Books Ireland, an organisation that not only works relentlessly to instil a love of reading in children but champions Irish illustrators and authors is such an enormous honour. The experience of working on a book as fierce, tender, and human as Savage Her Reply is something I’ll treasure.”Savage Her Reply is available on littleisland.ie and from your local bookseller.
About Deirdre Sullivan
Deirdre Sullivan is established as one of Ireland’s most distinctive YA voices. She has published several titles with Little Island, enjoying notable success with Needlework and Tangleweed and Brine (winner, Irish Book Awards YA Book of the Year 2017; CBI Book of the Year 2018; Irish Times Reader’s Choice Award for YA 2017). In 2019 she published Perfectly Preventable Deaths (Hot Key). Savage Her Reply was the winner of the Dept 51 @ Eason Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year, Irish Book Awards 2020.
About Karen Vaughan
Karen Vaughan is an award-winning designer and illustrator with a particular love for pen and ink. After receiving her BA in Illustration from The North Wales School of Art and Design at Glyndŵr University in 2013, Karen has worked as both an in-house and freelance illustrator and graphic designer. Her intricate illustrations are inspired by folk tales, nature and the elaborate patterns and fashions of bygone eras.
