The grave - James Heneghan

A moving and fascinating time-slip novel for older readers; Something in the Black Pit was Calling and Reaching out to me, Pulling me...Tom stumbles into a pit in an excavated schoolyard and finds himself mysteriously transported back to rural Ireland in the grip of the potato famine of the 1840s. A foster child with no family in his 'real' life in 1970s Liverpool, in Ireland he finds himself taken in by a generous, though desperately poor, family whose eldest son is Tom's spitting image. Tom's intriguing life develops in parallel in both settings, creating an engrossing and affecting story for readers of 11+. Something in the black pit was calling and reaching out to me, pulling me...It terrified me, if you really want to know the truth. Tom is a thirteen-year-old loner. When he discovers a mass grave being excavated on a local building site he feels an inexplicable pull, an urge to investigate it. What he discovers there shocks him, amazes him and finally changes him, banishing his sense of loneliness for ever. An entrancing and fast-paced novel for older readers that combines a moving story of personal discovery with brilliant glimpses into a fascinating past.