Ireland 1984.After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, who is charming, eloquent, and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself pregnant and the center of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again.This is a story of love and loss, religious belief and spirituality--it will move the hearts of any who read it.

Author: Siobhan Dowd
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Rh Childrens Books
Published: 09/09/2008
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.30w x 0.75d
ISBN: 9780440422181
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.6
Point Value: 9
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 113947 / Swift Pure Cry


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Annex 03/23/2009

About the Author
Siobhan Dowd's novels include A Swift Pure Cry, for which she was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start author, The London Eye Mystery, and Bog Child. She passed away in August of 2007 from breast cancer.