SarahQuinnMcGrath

Joel Banquo is a troubled boy with secrets carving paths deep into his heart. Upon entering a prestigious, all-boys high school, he stumbles across a mysterious old set of statues in a church bell tower that bring his buried worries back to haunt him. In vain, Joel tries to keep his fears from his mind, but repeated discoveries and conversations with a concerned priest force his nightmares to cross into reality. As the boy struggles with memories of his mother's suicide, his father's hostility toward him, and the anxieties rooted firm within, he begins a downward spiral toward what he fears is insanity. Alongside Joel's story, an ancient Celtic legend is told, giving insight into what is really taking place: what appears as insanity resembles the haunting of a legendary Irish spirit, but as Joel comes to realize this, he moves only faster toward self-destruction.** This is one of my older works. I think my writing has improved since writing this book, but I do still like it or I wouldn't have posted it here.…

SarahQuinnMcGrath

Follow the stories of Will, whose upbringing and a terrible accident have imposed upon him a bitterness toward life; Oscar, who strives to discover perfection in a world that cannot possess it; Gwen, whose diatribes hide the frightened disbeliever inside; Simon, whose insight into human nature can't save him from being subject to it; and Eve, whose bright outlook masks a heart as lonely as any other. The lives of these five and a host of others weave together to create a complicated yet heartening picture of the self-imposed isolation and desire for understanding that all human beings carry as burdens. And then there is Daniel, who has lost his way from the dreaming, and who does not belong here at all.…

SarahQuinnMcGrath

After the death of his parents, Robert is forced to move in with a dinosaur-of-a-great-grandma and his ailing grandpa. Refusal to accept his fate embitters him to this new life, and only a spate of mysteries keep him distracted. What are the strange graffiti markings showing up on buildings? What happened in Grandpa's past that, as revealed through his dementia, he still dwells on? And most of all, why is the very monster that likely had something to do with a boy's decades-old disappearance now after Robert? When his little sister goes missing in a world he despises, Robert is sure only he can find her, but h must face his monster himself if he hopes to survive the ordeal.…

SarahQuinnMcGrath

Driven nearly mad by his monstrous infant sister, Eric Baird, self-proclaimed brainiac, makes a desperate move and books himself a trip to the Emerald Isle to find the sibling he believes he was supposed to have, but some unexpected company sours his adventure: Neil Darragh, a bully known for his delinquent behavior and dark demeanor. Neil has his own reason for wanting to escape, and he intends to ditch "the nerd" as soon as they arrive at their destination. However, circumstances keep the boys' paths crossing, and when they end up stranded in the Irish countryside and hunted by a bizarre creature, both realize they got more than they bargained for on their haphazard tour of a land brimming with legends so ancient they must be true.…

SarahQuinnMcGrath

Thirteen-year-old Nat is bitter about moving to Mosspond, and the future looks dim until he stumbles across the trail of a strange, ghostly boy--Jude--who is frightening yet intriguing in his cold silence. One afternoon, Nat discovers Jude playing the piano. While listening, Nat is near crippled by the music's profound sadness. When he realizes that the performer of the piece is as tortured as the music he plays, Nat comes to the conclusion that Jude is ill in a sense that cannot be physically explained and undertakes a quest to find the cure for his tormented friend.…

SarahQuinnMcGrath

Cole is stuck in summer school; lucky for him, his only friend Adam is, too. Before the air-conditionless torture begins, the two discover a trunk of old papers high up in a deserted treehouse, and when they begin reading, they find that the stories are written about them. Because of the strange tales, Cole begins to believe he has powers that were transferred to him from a lightning bolt that struck him years ago. Adam, however, doesn't really pay attention to Cole--he has other things to worry about, like figuring out what happened to his dad and trying to stop some stranger from dating his mom. The summer's a weird one, and as Cole starts to befriend an old enemy, things turn sour. When a tornado hits town at the end of the summer and Adam disappears, Cole is no longer sure he knows his friend well enough to find him.…

SarahQuinnMcGrath

When his life is upended by a move to London to live with an uncle he's never known, Ross Norton gives up hope of ever enjoying life. He hasn't any relationship with his uncle, he's teased at school for being American, and he's entirely bored with London. All of this changes, however, when Ross discovers a peculiar boy sitting outside his window one night--a boy who refers to himself as Giant McGinty and claims to be the usurped ruler of a vast empire. In order to return to his empire, Giant explains, he has come to enlist the aid of Ross in regaining a highly sought-after treasure he lost long ago. Although Ross finds this stranger and his statements odd, events begin to take place that seem far too coincidental to be unrelated to what Giant has said, and the two dive into a secretive friendship that takes them through the slums of London and into the Scottish highlands as they outwit pirates and spies, ultimately bringing painful truths into the open.…

SarahQuinnMcGrath

Jack and Kyle Kemper are identical twins with opposite personalities. Dreaming, quiet Jack is far different from his popular, "normal" brother. When a tragic accident befalls Kyle, the blame is placed upon Jack and his imaginings, and what results is a regimen of medicine to bring him closer to the real world. Kyle becomes resentful and bitter, and Jack is thrown into a dull reality from which he can't escape. As the rift between the brothers widens, their family struggles to stay in tact, and it is only when a partially-blind music teacher and a hyperactive girl conspire to help Jack that the gathering storms abate. Given new hope from people who can fully comprehend him and pulling himself out from under the oppression of his medication, Jack realizes that it is up to him to show his brother what exists beyond the realm of rationality in order to put things right.…