Twelve-year-old Mary and her mother are both dealing with the impending death of Mary’s Granny when Mary encounters an unusual woman on the street near her home. She soon discovers that woman is the ghost of her great-grandmother, Tansey, who wants to get a message to her daughter, Mary’s Granny, to ease her passage out of life. All four generations of women and girls-–Mary, her mother Scarlett, her Granny Elmer, and Tansey—are the subject of Roddy Doyle’s unusual and immensely comforting ghost story. The narrative moves back and forth among their lives, with an emphasis on each one’s childhood experiences and mother/daughter bonds. Each is a lively, funny, distinctive character, with the shared moments of humor when they are together full of warmth and delight. Doyle’s story, with its wonderful dialogue, culminates in a road trip as the quartet heads out of Dublin into the Irish countryside in the middle of the night, toward the homestead they haven’t seen in years. They are a ghost, a dying woman, a middle-aged woman, and a girl. They are mothers and daughters. They are family. And in the end, that is what Mary and her mother have when Granny dies—knowledge of family, and the love that binds them all. (Age 11 and older)

Mary O’Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Granny is dying. But Granny can’t let go of life, and when a mysterious young woman turns up in Mary’s street with a message for her Granny, Mary gets pulled into an unlikely adventure. The woman is the ghost of Granny’s own mother, who has come to help her daughter say good-bye to her loved ones and guide her safely out of this world. She needs the help of Mary and her mother, Scarlett, who embark on a road trip to the past. Four generations of women travel on a midnight car journey. One of them is dead, one of them is dying, one of them is driving, and one of them is just starting out.

Praise for A Greyhound of a Girl
STARRED REVIEW “A warm, witty, exquisitely nuanced multigenerational story.”
–Kirkus Reviews, starred review

STARRED REVIEW “This elegantly constructed yet beautifully simple story, set in Ireland and spun with affection by Booker Prize–winner Doyle, will be something different for YA readers. These four lilting voices will linger long after the book is closed.”
–Booklist, starred review

STARRED REVIEW
"Written mostly in dialogue, at which Doyle excels, and populated with a charming foursome of Irish women, this lovely tale is as much about overcoming the fear of death as it is about death itself."
–Publishers Weekly, starred review
"In this moving and artfully structured ghost tale, four generations of Irish women come together. A big part of the pleasure here is the rhythm of the language and the contrasting voices of the generations. Any opportunity to read it aloud would be a treat."
–Horn Book

"For children grieving the death of a parent or grandparent, this book provides comfort."
–Library Media Connection

Award:
Capitol Choices 2013 - Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens
Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choices 2013 list - Young Adult Fiction
USBBY Outstanding International Books List 2013