The Mystery of Ireland's Eye

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

“I thought that was it, game over. I was about to drown at the
entrance to Ireland’s Eye. Mom had been right: the trip was too much
for a kid. Perhaps what had been pulling me toward this magical island
was death itself.

But somewhere up in the air, in that split second that seemed to take
hours, I heard my grandfather’s voice. It was calm. It told me to get
a grip on myself, to think of what I had to do, that I was capable of
more than I imagined ... [so] I twisted, I righted myself, I landed and
didn’t fight the landing, loosening my body and allowing the kayak to
sit flat in the waves.”

When 12-year-old Dylan wheedled his way into accompanying his
overachieving parents on their vacation, he thought he was going on a
wilderness kayak adventure to a ghost town. He did not realize that he
was signing up to become a potential ghost himself. Dylan was warned by
the local fishermen not to go to the deserted island. Even the mink and
grey whales that intercepted their kayaks seemed to be urging them to
stay away. But Dylan and his parents each seem to have something to
prove.

This suspenseful adventure story is packed with ghost thrills, kayak
spills, and coming-of-age moments. A playwright and popular historian,
Shane Peacock has written a text that propels the reader like an ocean
current toward a surprising conclusion. Highly recommended.