'Ripples' by C. J. Carroll

£12.99

Abeo is fifteen, still grieving the loss of his dad and now stuck in a Pupil Referral Unit. He’s funny, he’s smart, his teachers like him; he knows he shouldn’t be there. All he wants is a fresh start. A new school. A chance to make his family proud again. But in the weeks before his death, everything changes. The world seems to close in around him and Abeo clings desperately to everything that matters to him the most and the future he knows he deserves. 

One year on from her brother’s murder, Tiha cannot come to terms with what happened at the gates of the school – the one place where he was meant to be safe. How does she begin to confront the pain that eats away at her every day? How does she use the same pain to rebuild everything that was destroyed and eventually do the unthinkable: forgive the boys who did it.

Inspired by a heartbreaking but incredible true story, Ripples is a powerful novel told from both sides of a tragedy about the impact of violence, the systems that fail us, the radical power of forgiveness and the courage it takes to break the cycle. 

Abeo is fifteen, still grieving the loss of his dad and now stuck in a Pupil Referral Unit. He’s funny, he’s smart, his teachers like him; he knows he shouldn’t be there. All he wants is a fresh start. A new school. A chance to make his family proud again. But in the weeks before his death, everything changes. The world seems to close in around him and Abeo clings desperately to everything that matters to him the most and the future he knows he deserves. 

One year on from her brother’s murder, Tiha cannot come to terms with what happened at the gates of the school – the one place where he was meant to be safe. How does she begin to confront the pain that eats away at her every day? How does she use the same pain to rebuild everything that was destroyed and eventually do the unthinkable: forgive the boys who did it.

Inspired by a heartbreaking but incredible true story, Ripples is a powerful novel told from both sides of a tragedy about the impact of violence, the systems that fail us, the radical power of forgiveness and the courage it takes to break the cycle. 

About the Author, C. J. Carroll

Cillian is an Irish teacher and writer based in Dublin, Ireland. He spent the first seven years of his teaching career in London, including time in Lambeth, South London. He spent many years working with vulnerable young people and their families on the fringes of society in a pastoral capacity. While teaching in the UK, he was shocked and angered by the daily challenges his students faced and the trauma they experienced on such an alarmingly regular basis.

Cillian returned to Dublin in 2021 and in the same year, 30 teenagers were murdered on the streets of London, including a number of ex-pupils from the school he taught in. Spurred on by this and inspired by the incredible young people he worked with in London, he began working on what would become his debut novel. As an English teacher raised in a house of books, he always believed in the power of words to inspire change and hopes that his writing will inspire conversation and open up dialogue with young people about serious youth violence and the effect it continues to have on communities.

When he is not writing, he can be found in at home in North Dublin with his beautiful wife and son.

978-1-911740-07-0