**Genre:** Middle Grade / YA Fiction
A storyteller since her first fib, and an explorer since her first runaway, Patti M. Walsh is an award-winning author who writes short stories, novels, memoirs, and travelogues.
Her debut novel, Ghost Girl, was named Best Children’s Fiction of 2023 by American Book Fest, and Second Place Middle-Grade Fiction in 2023 by the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.
The Karate Kid meets Percy Jackson in a contemporary coming-of-age novel inspired by the legendary Irish warrior Cú Chulainn, also known as The Hound. When tricked by an older boy into running drug money, 13-year-old Tony Setanta must embrace the life of a Celtic warrior or succumb to the threats of a bully. Through discipline, magic, and bataireacht (an ancient Irish martial art), he discovers that being a warrior involves more than combat.
**Submitted by:** GCWA