Breda's Island

Breda lives in Chicago, but her mother, who left Ireland at 18 when she was pregnant with Breda, is very busy running her own hair salon and has little time for her daughter. Breda has taken to stealing small items, but the last straw is when she steals a fellow student's gym shorts after hers are ruined by period stains. Her mother, flashy but forthright, has promised to send Breda to live with her grandfather in Ireland for the summer if she gets caught again, and makes arrangements right away. Breda isn't thrilled with the idea, but summer in Chicago isn't going to be all that exciting. Her grandfather has a small farm not too far from town, and provides Breda with a bicycle. He gives her a lot of freedom to wander around, and asks only that she not go into one pub in town owned by the Fahey's. Breda's grandmother died of cancer when her mother was very small, and her grandfather has a friend, Noeleen, who helps out a bit, and accompanies Breda to the pub when her grandfather performs as a seanchaí, telling stories about Ireland and its past. Caught in the rain one day with her bike, Breda takes refuge in the Fahey's forbidden pub and meets Nellie, who is just a bit older than she is, and who invites her to play Irish football with her friends. She ends up enjoying it, and feels more connected to the farm when she helps her grandfather with a cow experiencing a breech birth. The grandfather (who must be around my age), has night terrors due to his difficult childhood, and also suffers from arthritis, making some chores and climbing his favorite hill hard. Having never been told about her father, Breda does some investigation into which man among the locals might have known her mother, and comes to a surprising conclusion. Will Breda's summer help her grandfather and mother to reconcile?