Dancing for Danger

Margot Griffin found a genuinely underused corner of children's historical fiction — the Penal Laws era in Ireland — and built a fast-paced, suspense-driven story around a resourceful girl protagonist that works for reluctant readers. The shooting of the schoolmaster is handled with age-appropriate tension rather than graphic detail, and the historical stakes feel real. The lack of deeper contextual framing is a missed opportunity, but the story itself delivers.