Customer Reviews
BEST BOOK TO READ WITH A MAD IRISH ENGLISH TEACHER! - By: citcat, 02 Oct 2007 
OMG! so much fun to read when ur teacher was brought up in derry around that time. good discusions. buy the whole series while ur at it. its pretty obvious what happens in the end but the road to it & the problems that sadie & kevin face are pretty heavy. i dont meen to dingy ms lingard but it cood do with a modern version coz the languages a bit funny. like they say "up the ira" when there supportin it! wots up with that? any way... a series to read over & over
The little bit boring begining of a great story - By: , 14 May 2005 
Irish Teenangers of different religions, who fought against each other, before they discovered that they're not that different at alll.
An amusing story of the difficulties of becoming friends,under the background of religious conflicts in Ireland.
Dated but Relevant - By: , 05 Feb 2004 I first read this book in 1976, when I was eleven, simply because the title happened to be my sisters birthday. However I was profoundly affected by it, & it helped give me a better understanding of the background to the seemly endless violence in Northern Ireland that was making daily headlines at that time.
For me it sparked a life long interest in Ireland & the Irish people. And as an adult, having had children of my own, I bought the book for them & found that they too found it thought provoking.
It's now a very old book, & the language is somewhat dated. However a good story will last the test of time, & this book is a good story which will leave you thinking about the futility of the troubles & the religious bigotry.
N. Ireland's problems seen through the eyes of children - By: wayne_burchell@mandg.co.uk, 28 Sep 2001 
If anyone ever wanted to know why there is such a problem in Northern Ireland, this book provides a good explanation. The story deals with escalation of hostilities between two groups divided by religion & politics. It doesn't try to take sides on the issue only show the futility of it.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing is the ending, which is fairly happy, but doesn't reallly do justice to the scale of hatred that still exists in Northern Ireland. That is left for the sequels (particularly Across the Barricades).
The book is also slightly dated, obviously set in the seventies (which is when I first read it). Had it been written today - there would probably be more violence!
I thought this book was intresting and educational - By: , 08 Oct 2000 This book is about how young irish couple Kevin & Sadie meet & give things up for each other even though one is catholic & the other is protestant
