The Custodian Novel and Workbook

The Custodian tells the story of Matt, a 12-year-old boy whose life is falling apart. His sister is mean to him, his mother won’t get out of bed, and he hasn’t seen his father since his family was kidnapped in a tiger raid. With school bullies after him and night-time visits to Durrow Abbey, Matt ends up in a series of risky escapades that involve computer hacking, a telepathic ventriloquist’s dummy and efforts to save the Irish crown jewels from a desperate criminal gang.

Published by Educate.ie An accompanying workbook, which was written and devised by Kelly, is also being published as an educational tool.
From The Irish Times
Noms de plume have been used by authors as long as books have been around, but a debut novel from one DA O’Connor does more than hide a single literary identity. The author of a new young adult book, The Custodian, is in fact a group of Offaly schoolchildren and their principal, Frank Kelly. The eight sixth-class pupils from Durrow School have combined their literary talents and knowledge of young adult fiction to create an entertaining thriller aimed at an audience of their peers.

Having ran a study group for older pupils on the mechanisms of fiction for the past number of years, Kelly decided to take the process one step further this year and encouraged the group to create their own novel.

“It was an amazing collaborative process,” he said. “The aim was to take the best techniques they could find in their studies and write their own full-length novel, brim full of everything that would appeal to boys and girls their own age and try to have it published by a mainstream publishing house in Ireland or abroad. What followed was an amazing adventure.”

The nine involved in the project – Niamh Bracken, Frank Crossen, Robert Crossen, Frank Kelly, Robert Kinsella, Elysha Maken Finlay, Molly McNally, Jack Wogan and Kate Molloy – assumed the mantle of professional writers and began creating a story based on what they liked to read themselves. Their work was overseen by the novelist Safie Maken Finlay, who acted as editor and helped to shape the book.