num_pages: 153
description: It is the late 1840s and the Great Famine has ravaged Ireland. The potatoes are black and rotten, and the people have nothing to eat. Eily, Michael and Peggy are alone in their cottage. Their parents went out in search of work and food, but never returned. Now the children must fend for themselves. Desperate to avoid being sent to the workhouse, they set out on a journey to find their great-aunts. On their journey, they encounter the devastation caused by famine people scrabbling for food, abandoned children, soup kitchens, beggars, disease, wild dogs, death. Led by twelve-year-old Eily, the children use all their strength and ingenuity to survive and find their way to Castletaggart.
language: English
title: Under the Hawthorn Tree
titlecomplete: Under the Hawthorn Tree (Children of the Famine #1)
characters: Eily, Michael, Peggy
genres: Historical, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Childrens, School, Classics, Irish Literature, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Ireland
ratings_count: 3849
series: Children of the Famine
awards: awardedAt: 662716800000
name: IRA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Award
category: Older Reader Category
publisher: The O'Brien Press