Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I couldn’t resist putting on my green socks, sipping green tea, and revisiting my favorite upper MG book set in Ireland – CELTIC RUN by Sean Vogel (2012). Here’s the book jacket blurb:

While in Ireland on a class trip, Jake stumbles upon the first clue to a treasure missing from the Spanish Armada. Jake sees the riches as his chance to buy back the family sailboat and restore a piece of the life he enjoyed before his father was critically injured in an accident. Desperate to find the treasure, Jake teams up with Zach, his nemesis and class bully, and two girls in a clue-hunting chase across the Dingle Peninsula. Dodging would-be thieves, exchanging wisecracks with Zach, and concocting ingenious devices to get them out of scrapes, Jake leads the team as they connect piece after piece to the more than 400-year-old mystery.

Reading the story will have you longing to visit the Emerald Isle. I did so a few years before this book came out and at every turn there was gorgeous scenery and kind citizens. I hope some day to write my own book set in Ireland. The pictures I took on my visit are screaming for a story to be told. Enjoy as I sit back and start brainstorming the perfect plot…