Description
Product Description
Discover a world of law-breaking leprechauns and sly faerie folk in the instant New York Times bestseller from actor and writer Thomas Lennon!
Fourteen-year-old Ronan Boyle is the youngest and lowliest recruit to the secret Garda, an Irish police force that handles the misdeeds of numerous magical creatures. Ronan’s parents are in jail, but Ronan is convinced that they were framed by the wee people. So, despite his small size, poor eyesight, and social awkwardness, he’s determined to learn all he can in the Garda in order to prove his parents’ innocence. To show he’s got what it takes, he’ll have to confront a fiery leprechaun, a sinister harpy, and a whole world of monsters hidden in plain sight next to real-life Ireland. Fast paced, action packed, and completely hilarious, this is the start to an exciting new middle-grade series by actor and writer Thomas Lennon.
From School Library Journal
Gr 4–7—At the age of 14, Ronan Boyle is the youngest recruit to the Garda Special Unit of Tir Na Nog, the Irish law enforcement agency tasked with investigating crimes involving the wee folk. While Ronan enrolls in the Garda as a means of finding evidence to free his parents, museum curators framed for the theft of an artifact, he learns that chasing after law-breaking faeries and other magical beings is not for the faint-at-heart. Ronan's training includes shillelagh class and weaponized poetry, as well as tin whistling for beginners; he needs all these skills and more when he and his captain set out to catch some leprechaun wine thieves. After encountering a dizzying array of faeries, and with the aid of a smarter-than-average Irish wolfhound police dog, the criminals are apprehended and Ronan returns to the human world with a lead on his parents' case. In the author's forward, Lennon states this book is his "love letter to Douglas Adams," and his efforts to emulate Adams' linguistic zaniness are evident throughout the book. However, Adams' genius is a challenging muse to follow, and this story reads like frenetic slapstick. Additionally, Lennon relies on the stereotypical trope of the Irish fondness for alcohol, and an overabundance of footnotes slows the pacing. VERDICT While the premise of the series is enticing, this first entry has trouble finding its voice. Hand readers Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" series instead.—Nancy Nadig, Penn Manor School District, Lancaster, PA
Review
"Perhaps the finest children's novel of all time (in the ever-burgeoning leprechaun crime-drama sub-genre). Equal parts JK Rowling and Douglas Adams, which, y’know… ain’t a bad thing."
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"Weird Al" Yankovic
“The Ronan Boyle books are ridiculously funny. Like, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett funny. I was laughing hysterically while reading them. My kids were laughing hysterically. My dog might have even been laughing hysterically while listening to us read it. (At least at the parts that involved dogs, of which there are a good number.). And in addition to being funny, the books are chock-full of adventure and excitement, with stereotype-defying werewolf, leprechauns and unicorns thrown in. They’re a tremendous joy to read from the first page to the last. Especially the part with the snakes.”
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Stuart Gibbs, New York Times bestselling author of the Spy School series
"A touching, funny read for smart kids young and old. Flat-out laughed out loud!”
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Patton Oswalt
"Actor/screenwriter Lennon (the Night at the Museum series) makes a spirited debut with this mythology-laden tale . . . the memorable voice and playful sensibility make this an entertaining series opener."
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Publishers Weekly
"As flavorful as the strongest Irish stout."
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Kirkus Reviews
"Delightfully absurd."
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The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"The main thing that readers ages 10 to 15 will want to know about “Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles” (Amulet, 286 pages, $17.99) is that it’s extreme