Scroll down to find out about my short stories published in different anthologies.
Tanza's brother Benjamin thinks he knows everything. Because he’s a boy. Because he’s older than Tanza. And because his Papa put Benjamin in charge when he travelled to Ireland with Tanza, her mother and baby Gracie. But Tanza isn't happy about Benjamin being in charge: he's not her Papa!
Neither is Tanza happy in the centre where the family lives. There are the plastic bins for her to keep her clothes in. The window is nailed shut and the bathroom is down the hall, shared with five other families. But worst of all, the family is not free to find their own home. They might even be sent back to Tanza's home country.
There to Here explores the experience of refugee and migrant families arriving in Ireland. It was published by Little Island Books in Once Upon a Place, a collection of short stories and poems by Ireland’s top children’s writers. The collection was edited by Eoin Colfer, when he was Ireland's Laureate na nÓg . Each story and poem is based around the theme of place, being set in or inspired by a particular location within Ireland.
2015, in Once Upon a Place, Little Island Books, Dublin, Ireland. ISBN:9781 9104 1137 7
On the day the school inspector comes to visit, Patrick Vaughan brings in a ghost for the Nature Table in his classroom. Everyone in his class knows it's a real ghost, except for the adults. His teacher doesn't believe him. The school principal doesn't believe him. Even the School Inspector doesn't believe him. That is, until the ghost gets out of his jar and spooks them all...
This short story was first published in a collection of original ghost stories, entitled Shiver. It was also published in a collection of short stories for Irish Primary Schools entitled Yarns.
1994, in Shiver: an Anthology of Ghost Stories Poolbeg Press, Ireland. ISBN: 1 85371 300 7
1996, in Yarns: an Anthology of Short Stories The Educational Company, Ireland. ISBN:0 86167 512 6
Nine-year-old Ruby drives her big brother Oliver crazy because he has to watch out for her all the time, but she needs minding or else she gets herself in trouble.
One afternoon, when Oliver goes to collect Ruby, she's not there. The only person Oliver finds is Lukey, the trouble-maker from his class. Is it possible that he's done something to harm Ruby?
Mountains and Molehills is published as part of the English Language Programme core reading syllabus for eleven- and twelve-year olds in the Revised Irish Primary School Curriculum.
2001, in The Time Seeker, Folens Publishers, Dublin, Ireland. ISBN: 1 84131 0921
Bean travels from base camp in a space buggy with her teacher and class to watch the two suns rise over their planet Stella Nova. An unexpected solar storm causes them to flee, but the storm hits the buggy and they crash.
With their teacher knocked out and the emergency life support system due to run out, Bean decides that she has to try to venture out in the storm to get help before they all perish in the poisonous atmosphere of Stella Nova. But can she make it to safety before it's too late?
Into the Storm is a short story in Starlight, published as part of the comprehensive English language programme aligned to the Irish Primary School Language Curriculum.
2019, in Starlight, Folens Publishers, Dublin, Ireland. ISBN: 9781 7892 7020 4
©Jane Mitchell. Webpage updated 2025