The Grand Central Cinema Club

by Alan Nolan, Shane Cluskey (Cover Art)

Dublin, 1937

At the Grand Central Cinema on O'Connell Street, the children of Dublin watch their Hollywood heroes on the silver screen

When Sylvie meets tenement boy Jem and his daredevil sister Juno, they bond over their love of movies. But an accident means Juno will miss the latest film at the Grando, so they hatch a plot to hijack the movie reel and do a top-secret private showing instead!

Meanwhile, a sneak thief called The Magpie has his eye on the Grand Central Cinema too. Can Sylvie and Jem revive Juno's ailing spirits by bringing the movies to her? And will they foil The Magpie's feather-brained plan in time?

320 pages, Paperback

Published November 13, 2025

About the author

Alan Nolan is a comics writer, graphic designer, artist and co-creator of the horror series Sancho. He is the creator of The Big Break Detectives Casebook, a graphic novel for younger readers, and the 'Murder Can Be Fatal' mysteries. Born in Dublin, he studied at the National College of Art and Design. He lives in Bray, County Wicklow, with his wife and three sons.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1937 Dublin, all Sylvie thinks about is movies: watching them, of course (her favorites are the slapstick, madcap adventures of Bunny and Warren), but she also wants to direct. When her efforts to have her baby brother star as a giant baby monster in her latest movie, her mother bans her from all the movie theaters in their neighborhood. So, of course, Sylvie goes to one out of her neighborhood--the huge, ornate Grand Central Cinema, which is flooded with kids every Saturday for the "four penny rush" (though most kids pay with jam jars, instead). There she meets twins Jem (who writes stories) and Juno (a daredevil), and their friends, and they all bond instantly. Meanwhile, a cat burglar called "The Magpie" has been making the rounds of Europe, stealing precious shiny things and leaving a magpie feather as his calling card. You know the stories have to cross at some point. Maybe after Juno gets injured, and will be in the hospital for the premier showing of the latest Bunny and Warren flick? And the kids have a crazy plan to fix that?

This was charming, and pretty low-stress for an adventure--everything went their way! I thought Sylvie's mother would throw a wrench in the works, but her single appearance is at the start, banning Sylvie from the local theaters. The descriptions of the theater and the mornings with all the million kids descending on it are so evocative of that experience. This felt like an old-fashioned book in many ways, and I loved that the reader had an Irish accent to lend it the flavor of the "rare ould times" as it were. I'd say this is for grades 3-6. Thanks to Libro.FM for a free educator copy of the audiobook.

[Katie Caulfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a good book. I love how it is set in Dublin, a place familier to all irish people. I like movies and this is set in Ireland so I really connected to it. Although I think I would have liked it more if it was written from the perspective of one of the children in the story.

[Tweller83]

I received a free copy from libro.fm as part of the educator advanced listening copies. All opinions are my own. #librofm #bolindapublishing