Boy Trouble

Amy lives in Ireland, which is a pretty weird place at the best of times. So I've jotted down some notes to help you navigate the book!

Pennys: The Irish version of Primark. Home of way cheap clothes, and fashion saviour of many a teenage girl, Amy included.

Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy: aka BOD and Darcy. Very attractive Irish rugby players with legs to die for. Especially in muddy rugby shorts. Amy has conflicted views on rugby players. (see Crombies below)

The Guards: Our police force is called 'An Garda Siochana' which translates as 'the peace guard'. We call them 'the guards' or 'the Gardai'. Boy Trouble isn't a grisly crime book, so they only come into it once, when Amy gets- oops, don't want to spoil the story already!

Emos: People, usually teenagers, who are into 'emotive hardcore music' eg My Chemical Romance and I Would Set Myself on Fire for You (yes, this really is the name of a band!).
Emos wear a lot of black and are very attached to their Converse boots (black of course) and checked Vans, the more scuffed and beaten up the better. They also love black eyeliner – girls and boys. Amy has a bit of a soft spot for Emos.

Crombies: Boys, usually, but not exclusively rugby players, who wear Abercrombie and Fitch or American Eagle and other designer gear. They also wear 'Dubes', aka Dubarry deck shoes. They say 'Ledge' a lot (Legend). Like this: 'Charlie's so cool, he's a complete ledge.'

D4s: Girls who live in or aspire to live in Dublin 4, a posh area of Dublin. They wear Ugg boots, skinny jeans or minis, and are addicted to fake tan and hair straighteners. They love shopping and have a passionate love affair with their mobiles. Bullying is second nature to some of them – it's in their designer jeans, sorry, genes. 'Oh My God' (pronounced 'Eoi Moi Gawd') is their fave expression or the abbreviated version: 'OMG'.

Oh My Goddesses: Another name for D4s

Drummies: The D4 girls who hang around in packs in this huge shopping centre in Dundrum.

Suicre: Irish for sugar. Pronounced 'shoe-kra'. One of Clover's fave words.

Mark Rothko: A dead Russian/American artist who painted huge, side-of-a-bus-sized abstract canvases (which means they have no people or things in them, just colours and shapes). They are AMAZING. Looking at them is like falling into a giant paint pot. He's my very favourite artist in the world. Along with Georgia O'Keeffe, who lived in a desert and mainly painted sheep skulls and gi-normous flowers. She's also dead.