Ronan Boyle and the Swamp of Certain Death: Ronan Boyle, Book 2

Most of the violence is cartoonish and comical ("non-fatal stabbings" are pretty much like mosquito bites in Tir Na Nog, and you're going to sustain a lot of them if you go there). But there's a lot of it, especially shillelagh-wielding by people who know how to wield a shillelagh. Strange monsters abound. A number of peripheral characters may or may not have committed murder in their past lives. The Captain and wolfhound Lily, heroines of Book 1, have been abducted to Tir Na Nog, where it proves the Captain is the intended victim of human sacrifice to an old, creepy Irish god. In one scene, characters are attacked by snakes, who flee when one of the characters starts telling them Bible stories.

Ronan and Log (whose real name is Lara) hold hands in moments of extreme stress. Ronan suspects he's actually in love with the Captain (whom they're trying to save) but keeps insisting he couldn't possibly be.

"Eejit" (idiot) is a common insult. Bathroom, fart, and gross-out humor aplenty.

Every Irish stereotype ever concocted with regard to drinking whiskey and smoking clay pipes gets a good workout here. Consuming explosive fart-inducing hot pickles as one's drug of choice is a common vice among the wee folk.

Parents need to know that Ronan Boyle and the Swamp of Certain Death is the second volume of Thomas Lennon's saga pitting its reluctant hero and his friends against a whole lot of criminal-minded wee folk (including leprechauns, banshees, and other magical beings). Who, at the end of Book 1, abducted the brave Captain Siobhan and heroic wolfhound Lily to Tir Na Nog for some nefarious purpose -- and now, against all odds and common sense, the geeky, angsty Ronan is tasked with getting her back. As the loony tale unfolds, there's a steady barrage of bathroom humor, fart humor, gross-out humor, and violence from expert shillelagh-whacking to "non-fatal stabbings," which aren't even a crime in Tir Na Nog. Also plentiful: Every known Irish stereotype regarding whiskey, clay pipes, and a fondness for trickery. Friendship, courage, tenacity, and the ability to deal with unexpected perils, from a fat unicorn's lousy lounge act to a lake full of snakes, rule the day.