No. 3 Cats’ Ladder

Clíona of all people has to sit next to the new girl: Pat stinks, Pat throw stones, Pat has slept rough under bridges. Now she lives in a Home. Clíona doesn’t understand how someone can be so evil, so unpredictable. No wonder nobody wants to have anything to do with her. But after Clíona has once taken her side in front of all the others, Pats starts behaving differently towards her and they get to know each other. Very slowly and with many setbacks a friendship develops between them …
The story is set in Dublin and is intended for readers aged 10+.

Renate Ahrens, born in Herford, Germany, in 1955, studied English and French at the universities of
Marburg, Lille and Hamburg. She worked as a teacher for a few years, before she and her husband moved to Dublin in 1986. Since then she has been a freelance writer. She writes children’s books, novels and stage plays. In 1996-97 she lived in Cape Town and in 2002-03 in Rome, and is now based in Dublin and Hamburg. Renate Ahrens is a member of the P.E.N. Centre of German-Speaking Writers Abroad.