SOS Lusitania

Book Description

In May 1915 the huge ocean liner, the Lusitania, sank off the Cork coast near the Old Head of Kinsale with the loss of thousands of lives. This happened during the First World War. But it was no accident. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine. Rumour has it that there were spies on board. These rumours were true and thirteen-year-old Finbar Kennedy finds himself caught in the middle of it all.

This story mingles fact and fiction in the setting of one of the most dramatic seafaring tragedies ever.

Review
‘Kiely’s well-plotted story, told by Finbar himself, is deftly knitted into the true story of the [Lusitania]’ — Books Ireland ‘a tense and dramatic story’ — Irish Examiner ‘a compelling mix of fact and fiction … gripping’ — parentsintouch.co.uk ‘an intriguing read’ — Evening Echo ‘I just couldn’t put it down! Brilliant … I would absolutely recommend this book to my friends’ — seomraranga.com ‘Kevin Kiely manages to capture the essence of the early 1900s using subtle apt language, home life and innocence’ — teachermoloneyking.com ‘Kiely uses genius foreshadowing in this plot to build suspense and hope’ — teachermoloneyking.com ‘Kielys book would be perfect as a class novel’ — teachermoloneyking.com ‘this fictional reworking is intriguing and fleshes out a past event’ — teachermoloneyking.com ‘it would suit young and old in any setting, be it at home or school’ — teachermoloneyking.com ‘a most enjoyable book’ — teachermoloneyking.com ‘gripping’ — Armadillo ‘well researched and contains many fascinating nuggets of historical fact’ — Inis ‘a fantastic read … fascinating’ — Marine Times fans of Nicola Pierce’s Spirit of the Titanic will enjoy this action-packed book — YellowBrickReads.com a deftly plotted novel which skilfully captures the significance of the momentous tragedy, SOS Lusitania will appeal to history fans young and old — YellowBrickReads.com I thought the book SOS Lusitania was brilliant. I liked it so much that I am doing a project in school on it … I wish the book was longer and I have recommended it to all my friends — mykidstime.com an exciting story based on a real event which is sure to appeal to boys of 10 plus — Historical Novel Society a work of fiction to entertain the younger reader – something it will do in aces — Our Book Reviews a great story … told extremely well — Our Book Reviews will bring a lump to the reader’s throat more than once — Our Book Reviews an excellent read for girls and boys alike. And I’m sure there are bits of history adults will meet for the first time too — Our Book Reviews an exciting seafaring adventure — Books Ireland this is Finbar’s story, and the narrative from his young viewpoint is both fascinating and immediate — Books Ireland an uncomplicated easy read — Books Ireland a lovely children’s novel written in the overall brand of The Da Vinci Code — InTouch a good account of life in Queenstown in 1915 — InTouch well suited to novel reading in senior classes of both boys and girls, with possibly the boys enjoying the talk of spies and war a little more — InTouch a novel that runs smoothly from start to finish, where all that you see is not as it seems! — InTouch

About the Author
Kevin Kiely has had several collections of poetry published, had plays broadcast on RTÉ and is engaged in literary journalism and editing. He has received Literature Bursary Awards from the Irish Arts Council, and is Honorary Fellow in Writing with the University of Iowa. This is his first book for young readers.