Swedish for children

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The best of the latest Swedish childrens- and young adult literature, selected by an independent columnist, presented by the Swedish Arts Council.Spring Issue 2013, covers 2012 and early 2013. Written by sa Warnqvist, translated by Sarah Death.

Swedish books for young readers

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Spring

Books for the Very Young; 3 Picture Books; 7 Books for the Newly Independent Reader; 21Books for the Middle Years; 27 Books for Young Adults; 33 Authors and Illustrators; 42


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Front Cover: From the cover of Save Him! (see page 29). This page: From Yakup the Fool, illustrated by Sara Lundberg (see page 11)


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There is a special focuson Swedish books for children and young people thisyear, because Sweden is guest of honour at the Bologna Childrens Book Fair.Tis makes it especially gratifying for me to present this extended introduction tomany of the interesting titles published in Sweden in and early .

Te important task of producing this survey has been given to sa arnqvist,critic and researcher of childrens literature, who is currently also employed at theSwedish Institute for Childrens Books. She has selected the titles she considersworthy of extra attention and also provides a short overview of each category.

I hope you find something here to tempt you to take a closer look. In this brochureyou will find all you need to know about the books, plus contact informationfor the publishers and agents. Tere are also details of the financial support that isavailable. e also take a look at past and present promotion of Swedish literaturearound the world.

Enjoy your reading!

Susanne Begsm LassonSwedish Arts Council

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | INTRODUCTION


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Books fohe Vey Young

In Sweden, there has been a great deal going onwhen it comes to books for thevery young, thanks in large part to writers and illustrators well attuned to littlechildrens way of experiencing the everyday world. Te picture-book artists havecreated memorable characters, executed designs of simple brilliance and spot-lighted the day-to-day dramas of every small childs life. Teir work has becomeexceedingly popular and has in many cases been translated into other languages.Eva Erikssons classic Max books of the s (sometimes known as the Sam booksin English) with their two-word sentences were among the trailblazers, alongwith Anna-Clara idholms interactive Knacka p!(, Knock, Knock, Knock!),which encourages the child to knock on doors of different colours. Knacka p!celebrated its twentieth birthday in with a reissue in a larger format, the twoeditions bookending a kind of golden age of books for the very young.

idholm has recently embarked on a new series of books featuring Nalle (eddy)in which she follows the same principle of direct appeal to child readers, invitingthem into the fiction in a variety of ways. Tere have been three Nalle books todate, and more are set to follow. Other successful new series of the past few yearsinclude Stina irsns Vem (Wo) books, Ann Forslinds Bbis (Baby) booksand Annika Tore and Maria Nilsson Tores books about children in everydaysituations, beginning with Via vakna(Vira akes Up) and Sami somna(SamiGoes to Sleep) in .

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE VERY YOUNGW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE VERY YOUNG

om Pom and Pim by Lena and Olof Landstrm


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W SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE VERY YOUNG

ooks for very young children who areust graduating from pure pictures haveeen a real growth area in Sweden.

Tey offer some hint of a narrative, butery little text. One of the high pointsf the genre at the moment is Pom ochim(Pom and Pim) by established wr it-

ng duo Olof andLena Landstrm. It iscumulative tale and joins the currentend for non-gender-specific protago-ists in books for younger children.

Pom is a child and Pim is the childsoft toy. Te two of them go out for a

walk and a succession of things happeno them, some lucky and some unlucky,

with one thing leading to another.Wen Pom falls over and hurts himselfhey find a banknote and are able touy ice cream, but the ice cream givesom a tummy ache. And so on.

Pom is dressed in neutral-lookingothes and has a name that tends to

make us think of a boy. But then theandstrms introduce a pink balloonnd put Pom in a pink raincoat. Bylaying with the colour pink and the

way it fits into todays cultural codes,he Landstrms ingeniously challengeur preconceptions of boys and girls.

Children and animals with attitude,characters who know what they want,are quite common in books for thevery young. Everyday events are at theheart of Sanna Tringeand KristinaDigmanstwo books Kat kan p mo-

gonen (Cat Can in the Morning) andKat kan i paken (Cat Can in the Park).Tey introduce us to an anthropomor-phised kitten of unspecified genderthat wants to do everything for itself:eat, clean its teeth, push the buggy.Tere is no mistaking the fact that Cat isstubborn and a real handful. Once Cathas pressed the button at the pedestriancrossing, she/he will not let go, thoughMum tries to drag her stubborn toddleracross the road. Cat does not care thatthe cars are waiting and wants to pressthe button again. Tese two books incorporate all thedrama that can be generated on an or-dinary morning by a small child at thatdifficult age. Digman employs a mixedtechnique with particular use of pastels,creating a soft, muted feel that contrastswith the drama of the text and thecolourful behaviour of the main pro-tagonist. Tis clash is a source of greathumour, as we discover the headstronglittle person with the big personalitybeneath the sweet exterior. No wonderMums patience sometimes runs out.

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE VERY YOUNG

New twists to classic repetition storieshave plenty to offer the child on itsvoyage of discovery. In Lena Sjbergsupright, oblong book Vad ha du bakomyggen?(Wats Tat Behind YourBack?) there is a figure on each right-hand page, a person or animal, or evena robot or troll. Te words are a seriesof guessing games, asking questionslike Wats that behind your back,queen? and Wats that behind yourback, bear? Over the page we see whatthe figure was hiding, and it is usuallysomething unexpected. Lena Sjbergsdigital pictures are as well done as alwaysand have a distinct s or s look.

Whats That Behind Your Back?Text/Ill: Lena SjbergRights: Rabn & Sjgren

Norms are challenged in a whole vari-ety of ways in Swedish books for the

younger age group. Tis is certainlythe case in the work of much-admiredwriter and illustratorPija Lindenbaum,who received the prestigious Deutscher

Jugendliteraturpreis for her picturebook Siv sove vilse(Sivs Strange Sleep-over) in . In herJag lska Manne

(I Love Manne), soon to have a sequelin a sibling drama called Kan jag med(So Can I) we find another recentexample of a boy dressed in pink. Teboy, called Manne, is dark-skinned andhas lots of curly hair, unlike Micke, theI of the story, who is a tiny chap withhardly any hair at all. Tis little boyloves everything about Manne: his hairof course, but also his grandma, thegunge he makes in the sandpit, and hisbroken stick. But he finds he has com-petition for Mannes attention whenanother, tougher boy comes to join inthe sandpit games. Tere are several interesting aspectsto this book. Rivalry among boys play-ing in a group of three is not a commontheme in Swedish picture books for thevery young, and this story also divergesfrom the current trend for boys to dis-play empathy. Micke does not at all likehaving to compete for Mannes favour,and makes no secret of his delight whena dog pees on the other boys boots andhe runs off.

I Love ManneText/Ill: Pija LindenbaumRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Cat Can in the Park/In the MorningText: Sanna Tringe Ill: Kristina DigmanRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Can You Drink ItAuthor: Pernilla DanielssonRights: Forma Agency

Open Wide! / What Are You Eating Monster?Text: Jens Peter de Pedro Ill: Lotta GeffenbladRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Jens Peter De Pedroand Lotta Geffen-bladalso use digital techniques for theirforthcoming board books Gapa sor!(Open ide!) and Vad e du monse?(Wat Are You Eating, Monster?). Inthese, the child can find out what thesky monster, the junk monster and thesea monster are eating, and why thehippopotamus, rabbit, crocodile and

everyone else needs to go to the dentist.De Pedro and Geffenblad playfullyexploit the possibilities of the medium,letting the pages of the book serve asgaping jaws, which catches us off guardand is great fun. It is no surprise to learnthat the books creators have workedon animation and digital games:they pull off the trick of using limitedresources to maximum effect.

Pom and PimText and Ill: Olof and Lena LandstrmRights: Lilla Piratfrlaget

Tere are also more didactic picturebooks that combine learning withpleasure. One notable example isPernilla Danielssonswitty Kanman dicka de?(Can You Drink It?).On each right-hand page the imageshows a different type of water apuddle, a toilet, the dogs bowl andthe sea and on the next page itis explained that these are not fordrinking. Until we get to the glassof water. Tis ask-a-question-and-turn-the-page structure is quite acommon device in books for thevery young, and is always an effec-tive way of generating curiosity andinvolvement.


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NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | PICTURE BOOKS

Picue Books

om The Lightning Gobbler, illustrated by Joanna Hellgren


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Sweden has produced a wide varietyof picture books over the years, and whatmany of the writers and illustrators working in the genre share is an ability to putthe child at the centre and tell their stories with a childs-eye view, on the childsside. Tis childs perspective has been chosen as the theme for the exhibition ofillustrators that Sweden is mounting at this years Bologna Childrens Book Fair.Te majority of the illustrators referred to below are represented in that exhibition.Over the past decade or so a new generation of picture-book illustrators, the majorityof them women, has made its mark in terms of artistic expression. If we want tohighlight a single aspect of Swedish illustrative art for children, it is surely this one.Illustrators and artists such as Karin Cyrn, Sara Lundberg and Fideli Sundqvistwork like painters, with thickly applied colour. e often see elements of collage,as in the work of Clara Dackenberg, Joanna Hellgren and Emma Virke, and boldpalettes and an awareness of design and form, found for example in the works of

Emma Adbge, Lisen Adbge and Lena Sjberg. Many of the illustrators also workdigitally. Wat the majority have in common is that they were born in the s ors and studied art, graphic design and illustration or comic-strip drawing at artschools in Sweden and/or abroad. Tis new generation of picture-book artists hasimported a wider variety of visual milieux and new style influences into the Swedishpicture book. e find plenty of nave elements along with a widespread fondnessfor a retro look. Along with all this there are an increasing number of portraits of girlswith vivid imaginations who are not prepared to compromise their integrity.

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | PICTURE BOOKS

odays emerging generation of pic-ture-book illustrators have an influentialforerunner in multiple-prize-winningauthor and illustrator Eva Lindstrm.Her recent Oi och Mo(Olli and Mo) isa road movie in picture-book form. Itis better to journey hopefully than toarrive, the saying goes, but Olli and Mowould not agree. Te duo set off on anouting, for a drive in the car. Tey havea road atlas and binoculars but they stillget lost, and the question of where they

are assumes an almost philosophicaldimension. Were are we? asks Mo. ellsoon be on the outskirts of page three,says Olli, who has consulted the atlas.Tey stop for refreshments, but haveto do the washing up to pay their billsince they have no money. By the timethey have finished it is dark outside andthey cannot find their way home. Onpages showing nothing but forest, withneither Olli nor Mo nor the atlas in thepicture, the following conversationensues: Were are we? Somewhere

here. So where are we now? Here,maybe. Teir disillusion is total andwe find ourselves in an existential dis-cussion. Wat is a here, in ac tual fact?Or a there, for that matter? Te mapsall blur into one and here could justas well be there. Tey gradually ex-tricate themselves from their confusionand come across Mauds house, wherethey are able to spend the night beforegoing back home. Wich they must doquickly, for by then Mo has rediscov-

ered the direction in their lives and thetrip is over. Eva Lindstrms pictures are sugges-tive and deeply atmospheric. Leaves,flowers and seed pods feel their wayacross the pages. Tere is a transparencyand fluidity to the dominant blue-greycolours that creates a sense of an un-derwater landscape where everythingis floating. Wen the characters are attheir most lost, everything in the pic-ture dissolves, including perspectiveand depth. Tere is no way of establish-ing what is up and what is down. Te

disorientating sense of not knowingwhere you are is carried through atevery level. Add a little crazy humourand you have a sure-fire success.

W SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | PICTURE BOOKS

om Molly and Sus by Klara Persson

Olli and MoText/Ill: Eva LindstrmRights: Alfabeta


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Te everyday realism in Swedish picturebooks is inevitably played out largelyin Swedish settings, but there are occa-sional noteworthy exceptions. Ulf Starkand Sara LundbergsYakup oksoen(Yakup the Fool) is one of them.Nothing is said about where the storyis set, but since all the names are urk-ish and the pictures mediate a sense ofsomewhere in the east of Europe wecan assume that we are in a village inthe urkish countryside. In this village lives Yakup, whomthey call Fool since he is so clumsy.He stumbles and trips, knocks overglasses of milk and is always losingthings. He is not very good at reading

either. Te letters go buzzing off likeflies. Yakup can see that the nicknameis not really meant unkindly, but he stillstarts feeling stupid and wonders whatwill become of him when he growsup. Luckily his uncle is to hand, withhis own special brand of consolation:Being a Fool isnt the worst thing. AFool makes everybody else feel smarter.

And think of all the famous Fools wevehad in the family. One of them wrote acollection of poems to his boots. Butis Yakup really a Fool, or is there someother explanation for his clumsiness?Perhaps he will be able to take part inthe village darts competition after all, ashe has always dreamed of doing? Yakup oksoenis a picture bookabout preconceptions, about casual,inaccurate assumptions that stick likeglue and the dangers of prejudgingsomeone. Sara Lundberg is one of the

outstanding new picture-book illustra-tors of the decade and here she capturesthe village and its swarm of inhabitantswith great sureness of touch. Te pal-ette is warm and vibrant, and Lundbergevokes mood and temperament withher sensitive mixture of thickly appliedcolour and water-based tints.

other hand, is timeless. Te story teach-es us that people can be different andsee things in differing ways, yet still befriends. Ester is allowed to be cross andnot feel ashamed of it, not sink in Dai-sys estimation because of it, and aboveall not feel obliged to change. Te effectis liberating.

Te theme of friendship recurs in anumber of other picture books of in-terest. Sofia Nordinand Matilda RutasMija och pojken i de osa huse(Mirjaand the Boy in the Pink House) showsfriendship blossoming between a boyand a girl. Tis is Rutas first book andher digital collages reveal a strong

feeling for form. Te dominant greenshades are almost overwhelming, splen-didly framing this adventure in the heatof summer. Mirja has decided to sulk all sum-mer, in protest at the family spending itin the country with Granny and Grand-pa. But once they get there she findsout that a boy, illiam, has moved intothe pink house next door. Althoughthey have not met, they start c ommu-nicating with each other. A potato ina shoe here, a few magic signs there.Tey leave each other more and moremessages, and finally a picture showingwhere they are to meet. Tis is a friend-ship that develops without humancontact, and a face-to-face encounter iskept as the treasure at the end, once themap has been deciphered.

Yakup the Fool Text: Ulf Stark Ill: Sara LundbergRights: Berghs

W SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | PICTURE BOOKS NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | PICTURE BOOKS

Respecting and even celebrating dif-ference is also the theme of Anna Plattand Maria Kllstrmsfirst book Ese

Ag och Daisy Galej(Kit Storm and DaisyDelight). Ester Arg and Daisy Galej areneighbours and, as their names indi-cate, one has a very fiery temperamentand gets angry about the slightest thing,while her neighbour is always happyand content with life. But they are friends, despite theirdifferences. Tey do everything together:play croquet, go to the swimmingbaths, have coffee. And indulge in abanana feast, since they both love ba-

nanas, as we can see from the decor ofboth their homes. Clothes, paintings,cushion fabrics there are bananaseverywhere. But that seems to be justabout the only thing they have in com-mon. How strange that Daisy is alwaysso happy, muses Ester, and raises thequestion of their differences. Maria Kllstrm uses digital collagetechniques to create her pictures, yetthere is something nostalgic aboutthem. Te s-look of the book asa whole is echoed in patterns and thetwo house interiors. Te theme, on the

Kit Storm and Daisy DelightText: Anna Platt Ill: Maria KllstrmRights: Alvina

Mirja and the Boy in the Pink House Text: Sofia Nordin Ill: Matilda RutaRights: Rabn & Sjgren

om Mirja and the Boy in the Pink House by Sofia Nordin and Matlida Ruta


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mma Adbgescharacter Leni knowshat friendship can get tricky whenhree want to play, and like Mirja sheulks when things do not go her way.n the third and latest book about Leni,enis Oe(Lenis Olle), she is going tolay with her friend Olle, but whenhe arrives, Olles neighbour Kiran isready there and the day does not turnut at all as Leni had imagined. So sheicks out her lip.

Few illustrators can do sullen chil-rens faces as well as Emma Adbge. As

n her previous work, Adbge rolls outhis drama of jealousy in loving detail,n settings characterised by the retroyle interiors of which she is such a

master.

mpediments to friendship are alsopotlighted in Maria Nilsson Thoresus och F p vasin (Cheeky and

Scamp Each on Teir Island). Cheekyand Scamp each live on a small rockyisland in the middle of the sea. Tey aregenerally content with their lives, butone dark, gloomy evening they eachstart thinking it would be nice to havesome company. Tey both hit on thesame brilliant idea, and send each otheran invitation, with the help of a passingbird. But neither of them knows how toget across the sea and, both being fairlylazy by nature, both decide to waitfor the other to turn up. And there thestory could have ended, but for the factthat they wake up one morning to findtheir world has been transformed. Maria Nilsson Tores stories focuson the important things in life, butthere is always something engagingly

unassuming about them. Te distinc-tiveness of her pictures has wide ap-peal, and in brought her a doublenomination for the most prestigiousof Swedish literary awards, the AugustPrize. Her signature style is one ofpleasantly muted colours, attention todetail and intricate patterns.

A friendship between a nursery-schoolclass and a pig is not something weencounter very often. De en gis pdagis(Teres a Pig at Nursery) is a firstpicture book for Johanna Thydell,acclaimed author of novels for youngadults. She has hit on a tone that is bothpoetic and full of fun. Te story starts with the worldsloneliest pig standing in the field staringwistfully in the direction of the nurseryschool. In a trice it has dug its way outof its sty and is there at the nursery gate.Te children catch on straight away.Tey realise the pig wants to be part ofthe group and they know everybodyshould be included that is what theyhave been taught so they let him in.Te pig cant believe his curly-tailedluck. But are pigs really allowed atnursery? No, the children know theymust keep him out of sight of the staff,and thanks to their concerted effortsand creativity they manage it. At leasttemporarily. And while it lasts, both thepig and the children have a wonderfultime.

De en gis p dagisis a charmingtale that poses a very pertinent ques-tion. It extends the discussion ofbelonging and exclusion to considerwhether it is realistic for everyone to

join in everything. Te answer is nota definitive yes or no, but for thisparticular pig everything works out inthe end. Te charm and humour of thetext is matched by Charlotte Ramelspictures. Her crayon and watercolourbrush technique captures the essenceof the nursery world and its individualcharacters.

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | PICTURE BOOKSW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | PICTURE BOOKS

Maria Nilsson Tore shows the samelack of pretension when she and writerPetrus Dahlintackle the question ofwhere we come from in their latest pic-ture-book collaboration Innan jag fanns(Before Tere as Me). Sisters My andPy are at Grandpas and spend the win-ter evening wondering what they werebefore they were born. A baby in outerspace? A seed? A little comet with a tail?Beneath Nilsson Tores beautiful, star-ry skies, the question of our place in theuniverse is thoroughly aired.

Lenis OlleText/Ill: Emma AdbgeRights: Rabn & Sjgren

Cheeky and Scamp Each on Their IslandText/Ill: Maria Nilsson ThoreRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Before There Was MeText: Petrus Dahlin Ill: Maria Nilsson ThoreRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Theres a Pig at Nursery Text: Johanna Thydell Ill: Charlotte RamelRights: Alfabeta

From Lenis Olle by Emma Adbge


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e find another animal with a snoutying to get closer to the human world

n Charlotta Lanneboand EmmathnersVeke och den da baddkenVeke and the Red Swimsuit). Veke is aoung wild boar who grubs around inhe forest and fields with his family. Termer is less than happy about his visi-

ors and chases them away; the humanworld is not the wild boar world.

One day Veke finds a red swim-uit by a lake. He tries it on and it fitserfectly. But the other wild boar doot appreciate human clothing sincemakes them obtrusive and easier tount, so they give Veke an ultimatum:

ake off the swimsuit or leave the herd.o Veke goes, for he loves his swimsuit.s he walks through the forest he gets

mixed reactions to his new finery. Andventually he makes a new friend.

Veke och den da baddkenis ateart a classic tale of daring to chooseour own path and stand up for whatou believe in, a book about tolerancend acceptance. Its cross-dressingheme challenges prevailing norms on

dual front: a pig in a swimsuit, and aoy pig at that. As for Veke, he is charmersonified. Emma Gthners pictures

n watercolour and Indian ink conjurep a host of appealing little snouts.

sa Lind, whose Sand olf trilogy hasfound international success, engageswith the big questions of life in Momos

sjal(Grannys Scarf). Te story revolvesaround two girls, cousins, who haveknown each other all their lives. Teylike the same things, and their very fa-vourite thing is thinking. ogether.

At a noisy family party when Grannycomes home from hospital, they try tofind some peace and quiet for a bit ofthinking, but the grown-ups are veryattentive and they are interrupted wher-ever they go. Finally they seek refugewith Granny, who is asleep in an arm-chair. Tey find a little haven, a roomof their own, under Grannys big em-broidered scarf, which they make intoa tent behind her chair. And then theythink. About life and about Grannysdeath, which they know is coming. Momos sjalis a sensitive story aboutchildrens right to a place of their ownand some space for their thoughts, atheme which is further heightened byJoanna Hellgrenswatercolour andcrayon pictures with elements of col-

lage. Te colour on the double-pagespreads in which the girls imagina-tions are given free rein is vibrant, thefree-flowing watercolours contrastingwith the turbulence of the everydayworld. Joanna Hellgren is an illustra-tor, comic-strip creator and graphicdesigner with a number of exhibitionsto her name in Sweden and other partsof Europe. Her first picture book Lova!

sa Smulan(Promise, Said Smidge) wasone of the winners in the illustrationcompetition run by the publishinghouse Natur & Kultur in .

Alongside Momos sjal, Joanna Hellgrenhas also illustrated Jonatan Brnnstrmsdebut bookBlixslukaen(Te LightningGobbler), a finely-tuned tale of a gameinvented by two siblings. Here, too,the game is brought to life by Hellgrensexpressive mixed-media technique. Blixslukaentakes place after night-fall. Tis is a bedtime story with aneternal theme: fear of the dark. Tereis a thunderstorm outside, and the rainis pouring down. Big brother wants toput the light out, but the main protago-nist is worried about the hippos underthe mattress, since they are scared of thedark. He or she wonders why there isntsuch a thing as a lightning gobbler upon the roof, to vacuum up the thunderclouds and banish the fear of darkness.Smart. Invent that and youll be a mil-lionaire, says big brother with a smile,and this is the signal for the start of anadventure. Te lightning burns holesin the flo or, old Mrs Johanssons sittingroom downstairs turns into a stormysea, and crocodiles and monster ser-pents lie in wait. It is a fantasy game like

no other and big brother willingly playsalong. Tis is an insightful and touch-ingly warm tale of two siblings wholove each other.

Tere is plenty of sibling love, too, inthe pitch-perfect Ensam muvad p en scen(Te Best Singer in the orld), creationof Ulf Nilssonand Eva Erikssonwhohave collaborated with brio many timesbefore. Te pair have been makingpicture books together for thirty yearsand their work has been translated intomany languages. Ulf Nilsson is alsothe only writer for children and youngadults to have received the AugustPrize twice. Tis delightful story is narrated byan unnamed boy of six. He loves sing-ing and acting at home in front of hislittle brother, who adores everythinghe does. But things get much moredifficult when it is time to celebratespring with a school play, on a prop-er stage with real spotlights. At thatpoint, stage fright sets in. Our narratortells his teacher he doesnt want to bein the play, but she comes up with asolution: he can sit beside the stage and

just come on to announce the end ofthe play. Te only costume left whenhe comes to choose his is a mole suit,

an appropriate disguise for the lime-light-shunning little boy who wants tobe invisible. Te dress rehearsal doesnot go well, and bedtime brings night-mares. Ensam muvad p en scenis all aboutnot daring, about being scared of mak-ing a fool of yourself in front of otherpeople, but also about overcomingthat fear, and realising that people whonever dare can miss out on some bigexperiences. It is a warm and hopefulstory that tackles powerful emotions.Eva Erikssons gentle, timeless pictures

in pencil and crayon accurately capturethe childs feelings, through mimicryand body language and also by theinterplay of light and dark in a varietyof settings. Erikssons pictures strikea perfect balance between the hostiledarkness and the hopeful light radiatedby the brothers relationship.

In Klara Perssonsdebut book Moy& Sus(Molly & Sus) siblings are onceagain in the foreground, two girls thistime, and they are twins. Te thingabout Molly and Sus is that they havebeen joined by their plaits since birth.Tey have done everything and learnteverything together, but symbiosis canhave its problems. Getting dressed,cleaning your teeth and riding yourbike becomes very difficult when youare attached to someone else, and thegirls find it more and more tiresomethat they have to be together all thetime. Ten Sus does something unim-aginable. She gets the scissors and snipsthrough their plaits. Suddenly they cantake a step away from each other. And

another, and another. Bye then, saysMolly, and off she goes. Wat willhappen now?Moy & Suswas Klara Perssons examproject at the School of Design andCrafts in Gothenburg, and it wasawarded Snbollen (Te Snowball)for best Swedish picture book of the

year in . Shortly after, Klara Perssonalso recieved the award for bestchildrens book debutant, Slangbellan(the Slingshot). Tis tale of our needfor independence and an identity of

our own is illustrated with a fragility ofpalette and lopsidedness of perspectivethat seem to echo the foundations ofthe story itself. But underneath thereis also an ingenious exploration of lan-guage, which is allowed to blossom stillfurther in Klara Perssons most recentpicture book Maximilian och Minimilian(Maximilian and Minimilian).

Here, the fluid, muted shades of thedebut book give way to strong colours.Persson plays with the medium of thebook to comical effect. Maximilian islarge, while Minimilian is small. Andsize is the root of the problem: Maxi-milian has to squash himself into thepage, and Minimilian appeals to thecreator of the book to make it biggernext time, if Maximilian is going to bein it. If you carry on like this he couldend up with lumbago and neck sprainand all sorts of things. Tis leads to a discussion betweenthe two main characters of the prosand cons of being small or large, andthey try swapping places with eachother. But it does not prove at all easy,

and neither a magnifying glass norrunning so far away that you look smalleron the page provides a permanentanswer. In the end, however, they dofind a solution.


Veke and the Red Swimsuit Text: Charlotta Lannebo Ill: Emma GthnerRights: Lilla Piratfrlaget

Grannys ScarfText: sa Lind Ill: Joanna HellgrenRights: Rabn & Sjgren

The Lightning GobblerText: Jonatan Brnnstrm Ill: Joanna HellgrenRights: Natur & Kultur Agency

The Best Singer in the World Text: Ulf Nilsson Ill: Eva ErikssonRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Molly & SusText/Ill: Klara PerssonRights: Urax

Maximilian and MinimilianText/Ill: Klara PerssonRights: Urax


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In the marked retro fashion in picturebooks of recent years, the aesthetic ofthe nineteen-forties, fifties, sixties and

seventies has found expression in theidiom and/or interiors of a good num-ber of illustrators. Te most consistentproponent of the retro look is LenaSjberg, whose picture books and non-fiction titles for children recapture thatmid-twentieth-century feel. Sjbergslatest offering is a non-fiction bookabout eggs, Hdkoka faka om gg(Eggs: Te Hard-Boiled Facts), appear-ing in the same series as her earlier Kaa

faka om is(Ice: Te Cold Facts, ),for which she received publishinghouse Opals non-fiction book prize.

ggs: The Hard-Boiled Factsext/Ill: Lena Sjbergghts: Opal

In Hdkoka faka om gg, the readeris led nimbly through the history ofthe egg, its uses, religious significance,

the reproductive cycle of animals andmuch, much more. How can a chickbreathe inside an egg? Did dinosaurslay eggs? Wen was the egg cup invent-ed? Te book is packed with facts andingenious insights, and the pictures areconsistently excellent, with an abun-dance of distinctive vignettes. Due forpublication in Sweden in time for East-er, it will surely be a sought-after Easterpresent for children.

Lena Sjbergalso has a new picturebook out, Cikusloppo p luffen(CircusFleas On the Road), a tale in billowing

verse about two fleas on a round-the-world trip, particularly their time in theSpanish capital Madrid, to which theyfind their way in a case of smuggledrum. Tey get along as performing fleasat Circus Vaudeville until it burns downone night. e view the seething thecity from ground level and the feel ofvagabond life, earthy and occasionallysad, permeates both the words and thepictures. A love story and an adventuretale, irresistibly combined.Circus Fleas On the Road

Text/Ill: Lena SjbergRights: Rabn & Sjgren


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rik Magntornand Lisa SjblomsLea

ppan!(Find the Flea!) is another pic-ure book with fleas as the main protag-nists, and in this case a whole colonyf them. Tis counting book follows

heir ABC book Hita banen!Find the Children!) which was devisedn the same principle. First one flea,

hen two, then three and so on are hid-ng in the detailed black and white pic-ures and rhyming verses. It takes bothoncentration and keen observation toocate them. Lisa Sjbloms atmospher-

pictures are reminiscent of woodcutsnd unique in the world of childrensicture books in Sweden.

of stories set in collectives. Her Nyfisy(New Hairdo), was set in ahairdressing salon, with the salon itselftaking the leading role. Her new book,En hg med sn(A Heap of Snow) has awinter theme and revolves round yes,

youve guessed it a heap of snow.Tick brushstrokes and strong colourscharacterise Bengtssons pictures inwhich a group of individuals, most ofthem children, come together round apile of snow, meet and part. Tis is per-haps one of the strangest main protag-onists ever seen in childrens literature,

yet we accompany it through its wholelife, from the first flakes of snow to thepatch of dirty brown which is all that isleft by the following summer.

Jansson. In the moon wolves forest allkinds of plants grow very tall. Horsesare smaller than a ball of wool and wehappen across odd things like a hat, apile of books or a cake hidden in theundergrowth. For obvious reasons the story takesplace at night, against the backdrop ofthe starry sky. It is probably the darknessthat makes the moon wolves slightlyunsettling, despite their cuddly appear-ance. Or perhaps it is the fact that it ishard to work out precisely what speciesof animal they are. Teir name andtheir fascination with the moon clearlymake us think of wolves but their tuftedears make them look more like lynxesand their overall look is rather reminis-

cent of the mogwai that Billy gets as apresent in the film Gemlins. Tey are astrange gang, and after the twist at theend one is left not knowing quite whatto make of them. But by that stageit is impossible not to smile at theirunpredictable tricks.


ea loppan!features a group of fleas,ut collectives are rather thin on theround among the creators of toda ysicture books. One exception is Annaengtsson, who has made a speciality

Tere is another collective in Mn-ulvana(Te Moon olves), illustratorMalin Ahlinsfirst solo picture book.Moon wolves are creatures that live inthe forest. Tey love all things shinyand glittery, and live up to their name

by liking the moon best of all, staringdreamily at it every night. One ni ghtthe urge is so strong they try to reachthe moon in all sorts of ways. Tey

jump and climb, but it is all in vain. Justas they are about to give up, they haveanother idea. ith the help of the fire-flies they launch a balloon and set off. Mnulvana is about our yearningfor things that are beyond our reach.Te language is poetic but also suf-fused with humour, and fits well withthe rather surreal pictures, clearly in-fluenced by the visual world of ove

Tere are two other picture books thatmake interesting use of the dark andwhat it implies. In Sigid och Naten(Sigrid and Night) a new picture bookby writer, film-maker and illustratorJns Mellgren, Night has accidentallyended up under the kitchen settle inSigrids flat. Youre not supposed to behere, says Sigrid, popping Night intoan old biscuit tin. And without Nightthere is no darkness, so the sun carrieson shining down on the people of thetown, with disastrous consequences.Tese things happen, mutters Sigrid.

Its not my fault. But in the end thetruth dawns on her. e gradually learnher life story and discover why she be-grudges other people their sleep. Jns Mellgrens Night has a body ofits own and wanders through the townlike a dark, translucent shadow as itgrows stronger. Te pictures are dom-inated by the complementary colours

yellow and violet, their warm and coldshades creating a light-dark dynamic.

e also encounter darkness and shad-ow in Per Gustavssonsnew picturebook Skuggsidan(Te Shadow Side).Gustavsson has made his name interna-tionally for his plucky princesses, butin his two most recent picture books hehas gone in new directions, developingas an artist in the process. In the first ofthese, Maskosdagen (Dandelion Day), aboy called Martin spends the day withhis dandelions. Te story evolves into apoetic and philosophical reflection onthe transience of life and the power ofthe imagination.

In Skuggsidan, Gustavsson has takena further step towards serious subjects,depicting fear of the dark in a new andpersonal way. In an attempt to masterthe falling darkness, the main protago-nist Ragnar creates a world of shadowsby drawing it with his new pencil. It isa way for him to confront and take con-trol of his fear, and ultimately make thedarkness his friend. A sensitive, consol-ing treatment of a subject that is alwayswith us.

Find the Flea!Text: Erik Magntorn Ill: Lisa SjblomRights: Lindskog

A Heap of SnowText/Ill: Anna BengtssonRights: Alfabeta

The Moon WolvesTex/Ill: Malin AhlinRights: Leopard

Sigrid and NightText/Ill: Jns MellgrenRights: Natur & Kultur

The Shadow SideText/Ill: Per GustavssonRights: Natur & Kultur

From Sigrid and Night (cropped) by Jns Mellgren


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NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT READER

Books fohe Newly

Independen eadeThe first years of the twenty-first centuryhave seen a marked increase in booksfor reading aloud and for the start of independent reading. Tey cover a broadrange of themes, but it perhaps comes as no surprise that one of the most popular,both in Sweden and abroad, is junior detective fiction. Tis is thanks in no smallpart to prolific Martin idmark and his LasseMajas detektivbyr (Te JennyMayaDetective Agency) series, which has been translated into almost thirty languages.Series of varying lengths combining suspense and humour have long been arecipe for success in books for the newly independent reader. Categories such asclassic ghost stories and stories with an element of magic have also enjoyed a renais-sance in recent years. Martin Olczaks adventure series Jakten p Jack (Te Huntfor Jack) is a prime example of the latter. Te books feature Jack, who grew up in anorphanage but has found out that his parents have been abducted by werewolves.Tese heart-stopping, Stockholm-set adventures are constructed like detectivemysteries but are also swarming with supernatural beings: phantoms, werewolvesand witches. Te same is true of several other series including Tomas Hallingsrio i trubbel (rio in rouble), featuring three siblings who get caught up in onehair-raising adventure after another. Fantasy and magic has been a real growth areain publishing for the age group that is starting to tackle longer books, but there arestill plenty of down-to-earth stories set at home and school.

Bild kommer, frn Mitzi i mitten

om Mitzi in the Middle, illustrated by sa Arnehed

W SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT READER


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lf Nilsson,long established as a suc-essful childrens writer, has launched aew detective onto the childrens bookcene in Sweden. Inspector Gordon isnod to all those ageing, world-wearyolicemen we know from British televi-on crime series. And it will not be lostn those who know their Batman thatnspector Gordon is the only honest

op in Gotham City, so it is a name thatomes with heightened expectations.

Sure enough, Ulf Nilssons InspectorGordon is a fellow you can rely on. He

a toad, head of the forest police forcend detection department and a seasonedrime investigator. ired of appre-ending criminals, he prefers sleeping,ating biscuits and stamping forms. Buthere is danger on the horizon. One

winters day a squirrel comes into theolice station to report that all the nutsave been stolen from his larder hole

n a tall pine tree. Te inspector keeps

the hole under surveillance, interviewssuspects, engages a police assistant andexamines clues, and the net gradually

tightens. All the usual crime-fiction ingredientsare on offer, butKommissaie Godon de fsa fae(Inspector Gordon TeFirst Case) also has words of wisdom todispense. Te case to be solved here is arelatively benign one, carefully tailoredto the pre-school target audience, butthat does not prevent it being tremen-dous fun for any adult reader familiarwith all those V detectives. GitteSpees illustrations in chalks capture thepersonalities of the protagonists to a teeand conjure up the wintry scene. Canwe expect a sequel? Yes, luckily. Butapparently only one, as the title hints:Kommissaie Godon de sisa fae(Inspector Gordon Te Last Case).

Te stories portraying childrens every-day lives are inevitably very home andschool-based. One of the leading lightsin this area is Rose Lagercrantz,whohas been writing highly readable andsympathetic books for new readers formany decades. Lagercrantzs latest offering is a se-ries of titles featuring one of the minor

characters from her popular Metteborgbooks, a girl called Dunne. Dunne haslost her mother, yet manages to havea positive outlook on life and findreasons to be cheerful. But day-to-dayworries still dominate the plotlines.In the first book, Mit lyckliga liv(MyHappy Life, ) her best friend EllaFrida moves away, and Dunnes sadnessruns like a dark undercurrent beneaththe surface of the free-standing sequelMit hjra hoppa och skata(My HeartLeaps and Laughs). Here, Dunnes life is turned up-

side-down when her classmate Kuddenopenly declares his love for her. Tisgenerates envy from other girls who are

in love with Kudden, and they start tofreeze her out and pick on her when noone is looking. Dunne retaliates, buttoo publicly, so the blame falls on her.It is a question of who is really guiltyand who needs to apologise to whom.Te plot takes an unexpected andinteresting turn when Dunnes daddiscovers what has been going on. Te childs perception of injusticeis the focus of this warm account of lifein Year , which engages with the wholegamut of a childs emotions. Te sameis true of Eva Erikssons many black-and-white illustrations, where the moodshifts readily from anger to j oy, tothose phenomenal sulky expressionsand moodily furrowed brows at whichshe excels.

Mitzi is another seven-year old facingan emotional dilemma. She is an intelli-gent and thoughtful girl, good at chess,but growing up in a home where theadults fail to shoulder their responsibil-ities. Mitzis parents are an artistic cou-ple who live up to all the stereotypes:they are emotional, pig-headed, chaoticand egotistical. And when conflicts

arise, Mitzi is often caught in the mid-dle. After one particular parental argu-ment, Dad decides he will sleep out onthe balcony. Mum and Dad are not talk-ing to each other, so Mitzi gets ropedin as go-between and has to keep Dadsupplied with the food and toiletries heneeds out there in the October weather. Mrten SandnsMizi i miten(Mitzi in the Middle), delicatelyillustrated by sa Arnehed, makesuncomfortable reading on the subjectof role reversal, when adults behave

like children and children are forcedto compensate. Luckily Mitzi is able toturn to Grandpa, who shares her inter-

est in chess. Wen he finds out whatis happening, he refuses to let her stayin the flat. In the end it is a chess movethat inspires their plan to force Mitzisparents to pull themselves together. Difficult home circumstances of thiskind are not particularly common inSwedish books for new readers, whichtend to focus more on adventure andhilarious turns of events. But like somany other problems, this is a themethat is working its way down throughthe age groups, which does make foran easier transition to the more overtlyproblem-orientated subject matter ofbooks for slightly older children.

Ulf StarksVi ni se en sjna(ouldYou Like to See a Star) shows us a morehumorous brand of everyday life. It wasoriginally a short story, nominated forthe Swedish Radio short story prize,but has now been turned into a bookfor newly independent readers, withillustrations by Mati Lepp. Te no-non-sense narrative voice really hits themark, showing yet again why Ulf Starkis one of Swedens best-loved and most

frequently translated authors. Te story centres on Astor, who canwolf-whistle and waggle his ears andwould love to be a star. But neitherhe nor the adults around him thinkhe possesses the right qualities to getanywhere in the world. Te generalopinion is that he gets up to too manystupid tricks. As if that wasnt enough,he also has protruding ears, freckles andteeth like a horse. His parents worryabout how their son is going to turnout and Astor thinks of himself as HansChristian Andersens Ugly Duckling.

Astors friend Ruben feels sorry forAstor and decides to help him out.Te only question is how, but thenRuben finds a book about hypnosisin the library and that seems to offerthe answer. He teaches himself how tohypnotise people and persuades hisdad to give them the money for a trip

to the fair, where Ruben knows there isa fortune teller. Rubens plan is to makeher tell Astors fortune and foresee thathe will be a great success. And that iswhat happens. But not in quite the wayRuben planned. Tis is not the first time Ulf Starkscharacters have used hypnosis to helpthem make their way in the world, butit is the first time they have used it tosuch good effect. Readers are left toponder whether the hypnosis can reallytake the credit on this occasion.

Inspector Gordon The First Case Text: Ulf Nilsson Ill: Gitte SpeeRights: Bonnier Group Agency

My Heart Leaps and LaughsText: Rose Lagercrantz Ill: Eva ErikssonRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Mitzi in the MiddleText: Mrten Sandn Ill: sa ArnehedRights: Nilsson Agency

Would You Like to See a Star?Text: Ulf Stark Ill: Mati LeppRights: Bonnier Group Agency

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT READERW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT READER


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Te Roma are an ethnic minority inweden and their literature seldom getsny attention, so it is heartening whendoes. Te collection of seven Romaories De va en gng de som ine va

Once Upon a ime Romani ales),etold by Bagir Kwiekand Monicairsch, comprises mainly stories toldy Roma who came to Sweden back in

he s, who have kept their treasuryf tales alive by oral retelling.

Te book is one of the results of aong-term project in Gothenburg des-gned to highlight Roma history andulture, but the book holds its ownven without this political framework.n it we encounter people and animals

who use cunning or humility to win

wealth and love, like the man who ishrown out by his wife with nothingut a cockerel, and by means of theockerels wiliness makes enough moneyo start a new life.

Tis is an appealing collection ofories, sensitively illustrated by Jonasahm, who brings out the pithinessf the tales using intense colour androng brushwork. His style displays

astern European influences, underlin-ng not only the origins of the storiesut also their importance as worldterature. Te parallels of structure and

message between the Roma stories andestern folk tales and fables are evi-dent, inevitably making us think howmuch we have in common, and howrarely we affirm it. Tis book is a timelyreminder of the fact.

Tere are fairytale and fantasy elementsaplenty in Ylva KarlssonsOssians ovan-liga nanny (Ossians Unusual Nanny).From the very first page we sense theechoes of J.M. Barries Pee Pan andPamela L. raversMay Poppins. Tevery evening the babysitter has handedin her notice and Mum and Dad wantto go out, a lady climbs down out ofa tree and rings their doorbell. Iveheard you need a nanny, she says, andintroduces herself as Petronella ravers,

a name which is far from coincidental,of course. Petronella becomes Samuel andOssians new nanny, their thirteenth,and the magic starts straight away.Ossian thinks the embroidered jackdawon Petronellas bag is moving, but thatis nothing compared to what the brothersare about to witness. Petronella is notlike other childminders. Suddenly thereis a magic button on the V remotecontrol, the new swimming teacher isa mermaid, and a parcel arrives fromfairyland. Paintings that come to life

he then keeps in glass jars, aiming touse it to obtain a soul. Inventiveness, magic and moralcourage are important components ofNinja immy och de sulna skaten . It isan exciting and frequently funny story,both words and illustrations revealingthat its creator has worked extensivelyin the film business. Henrik amm is aHollywood concept designer and his

and crazy tea parties are nothing out ofthe ordinary in Petronellas world, andshe has a solution for everything. Butabove all she understands and listensto the two boys, which is more thananyone else does, be it their parentsand teachers or the other children at theafter-school club. Tis modern-day May Poppins isbursting with magic. Mum and Dadcannot see it of course, but it can ac-commodate everything a child could

wish for, borrowing one or two of itsattributes from other fictional worlds.ith its enthusiastic narrator whoaddresses the reader directly, it is par-ticularly suitable for reading aloud. It iscomical and sad by turns, and the moralis clear: children need to be treatedwith kindness and respect if they are toblossom.

Out-and-out fantasy with a touch ofsteampunk is what we get in HenrikTammsdebut book Ninja immy ochde sulna skaten(Ninja immy andthe Stolen Laughter). Te adventure isset in a city with the beautiful name ofElyzandrium in which an atmosphereof seventeenth-century industrialrevolution flutters in the draught fromsteam-driven airships and all mannerof flying machines suspended abovethe city. Te main protagonist is Jimmythe cat, who has set up an inventorsclub with his friends Simon the minkand Jasper and Kasper the pig brothers.

A gang of wild boar cousins steal anorange-peeling machine they have just

invented and they decide to form aninja band to combat c rime in the city.Tey are helped by Alfred, a makerof magic toys, and soon encounterFlores, a female cat pilot who has builther own plane. It transpires that all the organisedcrime in the city is coordinated by BlueRabbit, a huge, shaggy toy rabbit withshimmering blue fur and luminous redeyes. Made by Alfred in his youngerdays, he is now possessed of unimagi-nably evil powers. Blue Rabbit kidnapschildren to steal their laughter, which

portfolio includes set designs for theNarnia and Shrek films. He is p erhapsbest known to a Swedish audience forhis cover designs for Martin idmarksyko Flores trilogy. Te illustrationsof his own first Ninja immy bookcould be stills from an animated featurefilm. It is skilfully done, with an inter-play of colour and contrast borrowedstraight from the big screen.

A few years ago, artist and comic-stripcartoonist Sara Olaussonstarted aproject to make graphic novels out ofBarbro Lindgrens Loranga stories. Tefirst two parts have now appeared:Loanga, Masain och Daranjang(Loranga,Masarin and DArtagnan) and Loanga . Tese Barbro Lindgren stories featurethe unconventional Loranga, a fatherfigure who considers spontaneity andplay more important than work, his sonMasarin and his sick (or hypochondriac)father Dartanjang. Tese are books forall ages in which the whole story is achallenge to existing norms and struc-tures: in Lorangas world, everything istopsy-turvy. Tere are tigers in the barn,pike in the water-filled garage and agiraffe on the rubbish tip, with a liking

for eating bedsteads. Te graphic-novel versions are closeto the original books, and thanks to thegenerous space afforded by six wholevolumes much of the detail has beenretained, along with Lindgrens absurdhumour and punning. Sara Olausson usesstrong colours and bold multi-media tech-niques to highlight moods, personalitiesand emotions. Te charismatic Loranga,for example, is in vibrant red and orangewith inked black outlines whilst hisopposite, Dartanjang, is drawn with moredelicate pencil and crayon strokes.

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT READERW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT READER

Once Upon a Time Romani Tales Text: Bagir Kweik and Monika HirschIll: Jonas RahmRights: Kabusa

Ossians Unusual NannyText: Ylva Karlsson Ill: Katarina StrmgrdRights: Hippo

Ninja Timmy and the Stolen Laughter

Text/Ill: Henrik TammRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Loranga Part 2By Sara Olausson, after Barbro LindgrenRights: Kartago


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Books fo heMiddle Yeas

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE YEARS

Titles aimed at 10-12-year olds,too, are dominated by crime fiction, ghost stories,thrillers and fantasy preferably in series form, with new adventures for the sameset of characters, and preferably with genre mixing. Another major category forslightly more confident readers are pony books. Lin Hallbergs best-selling seriesabout ponies Sigge and eddy just goes on expanding, as does Pia Hagmars equallypopular series about pony-loving girls like Klara, Flisan and Millan. A number ofnew authors have also been tempted into the genre, among them Inger Frimansson,whose books revolve round a gang of horse-mad girls and the group they set up,called the Kona Club.

Magic is also a common element in books for the more confident reader.A common denominator here is the books resistance to categorisation as straight-forward fantasy; the plots are often firmly rooted in a realistic setting. Sometimesthe magical element is hard to put ones finger on, even after the book is finished.

as it magic, chance or imagination that intervened? Te reader is left to make upher or his own mind. In Katarina Genars Pensiona Vidablicks ga(Te Mystery ofBroadview Guest House, ), for example, Saga meets a cat that leads her to adilapidated guest house where she solves an old mystery.

But there are also plenty of stories in which magic takes a firmer hold of thenarrative, albeit in a realistic setting. riters like Ingelin Angerborn, Mrten Melinand Per Nilsson work in this way. Per Nilssons popular Pim-Pim and Extra seriesseems at first glance to be an ordinary school story about a boy and girl in Year ,but it soon turns into something more. By the end of the first book, we know thatExtra is an angel who has come to help Pim-Pim carry out an important task.

W SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE YEARS

om the cover of The First Girl the Forest Meets by Moa Eriksson Sandberg (p. 30). Photo: Nadja von Bahr


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atarina Genarhas made a nameor herself writing stories on the bor-erlines of magic. Tey are based in

ealism, but there are some things thatan perhaps not be explained by coin-dence or standard logic. Genars latestook, Den magiska kappan(Te Magicoat) accommodates two very differentves in two parallel stories that intersectach other.

Te common thread uniting thema red coat owned by eleven-year-old

lin in the early s, which endsp in an antique shop. In the currentay, Livia gets the coat as a present oner eleventh birthday. Te story doesot reveal whether it is chance or theoat that leads Livia to Elins grave, buthat is where the story of Elins life andeath starts to emerge.

Katarina Genar has the knack ofutting across stories in which magic isomehow always just around the cornernd the past and present come together.en magiska kappanis a thrilling, com-

elling and deeply human tale.

Tere is magic of a more explicit kindto be found in the books of MrtenMelin, for whom Swedish folklore isoften an ingredient, its figures poppingup in our everyday lives. In the trilogythat began with Fvandlad(rans-formed, ), we soon realise that theauthor has constructed a universe allof his own, in which characters froma variety of his books can coexist. Teaction in Fvandladis set at the Skogs-bingel Boarding School, also knownas the Monster School, where all thepupils have supernatural powers. Inthe second book in the series,Jag rLove(Everybody Loves Me! And thereis Nothing I Can Do About It), we findout that Hella, one of the pupils, is in factthe Devils daughter, and sister of Luciawith whom Martin fell in love in Melins

Jvla Lucia(Tat Damned Lucia, ). But Hella is not the main characterofJag Love. As the title indicates, thathonour goes to Love, a boy who doesnot have an easy time of it. Te English

pronunciation of his name reveals histrue essence: love. Everyone, fromboys and girls to older women, fallsobsessively in love with him. At thepoint when his very presence seems setto create a riot at his school, a decisionis taken to transfer him to SkogsbingelSchool, where adventure awaits him.But before he goes he discovers whyeverybody loves him. He is the son of

Amor, god of love, and must now learnto control the amorous energy radiatingfrom him. Mrten MelinsJag Loveprovides an interesting counterweight

to all those portraits of young peopledepressed because they are too ordi-nary and nobody loves them, and asksif the opposite is really preferable.Te third and final part of the trilogy,Pixis bok(Pixis Book), is fundamen-tally sadder and more serious than thepreceding two. As the story opens, Pixiand her parents have died in a car crash.Tey are on their way to Heaven whenPixi is suddenly separated from her par-ents and brought back to earthly life.Her Uncle Ola has resuscitated her andher facial injuries have melted away,but all is not as it should be. Pixi is sud-denly incredibly beautiful, abnormallystrong and entirely impervious to thecold. Next stop Skogsbingel School. But Pixi is longing to get back toHeaven and feels dead inside. So she istold to attend night-time lessons, whereshe meets the school vampire Adamand Jenny the ghost, who has decidedto stay on Earth a bit longer. Tese three

nocturnal characters become friendsand are drawn into mysterious events. Mrten Melin gets deeply involvedin his stories, which makes them areal pleasure to read. Amongst all thedizzying, supernatural adventures, wenever lose sight of the important issues.In simplified terms we could perhapsdescribe the themes of the three Skogs-bingel School books as Life, Love andDeath, but friendship and being differ-ent are the overarching concerns.

In Et hus uan spegla(A House ithoutMirrors) Mrten Sandn also raisesserious subjects in a story with magicalovertones. welve-year-old Tomasinesgreat-aunt Henrietta, once a famousactress, lies dying in her house and herheirs have assembled. wo of them areonly interested in the money but thethird is genuinely bereft. Yet all threeare incapable of any kind of emotionalopenness, a deficiency they risk passingon to their children. As the title intimates, there are nomirrors on the walls of this house, butone day Tomasine finds them all ina large wardrobe in a dressing room.Henrietta is of English descent andrefers to the room by an English name,the changing room, which turns outto have a double meaning. Like the chil-dren in C.S. Lewiss Te Lion, he Wichand he Wadobe,anyone entering thewardrobe finds themselves in anotherdimension, and time, though still in thesame house. Watever they experience

there has the potential to help and tochange things. Te wardrobe offers afresh opportunity, but is there any wayof saving these families, or is it too late? Et hus uan speglais about daringto see yourself, about how you becomethe person you are, and how you canbe brave enough to want to change.Moa Schulmans striking, even sinister,mono-chrome illustrations emphasisewhat a laborious process this can be.Te story takes its time to develop, themany descriptions allowing pause forthought.

rying to change the course of historyis a challenge also faced by thirteen-

year-old awni inCamilla LagerqvistsRdda honom!(Save Him!). awnisparents send her to stay with her pater-nal grandparents in England, to try tohelp her get over the death of her othergrandfather a month before. On the

journey she starts getting strange textmessages that tell her Only you cansave him and once she is in England itgradually becomes clear to her what shemust do. One stormy night eighty years earli-er, a ship sank just off the village of Myewhere her grandparents live. On boardthe vessel were some young men whohad just signed on as crew members,but they all vanished into the depths asthe storm raged. One of these youngmen must now be saved. Te only ques-tion is how. Camilla Lagerqvist has come upwith a thrilling, mysterious and ten-der story in the spirit of Edith Nesbit,

where the crucial question as in alltime-travel adventures is whether onereally can change the past. And whatwill happen if awni cannot do it?

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE YEARSW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE YEARS

Tere is also magic at work in IngelinAngerbornsbooks. ith her flair forconstructing spooky narratives in whichthe past and present meet, she has pub-lished a succession of books that havebecome readers favourites. Her latest,Mnfgel(Moonbird) is a gripping storyof an impossible but crucial friendship,written in eminently readable, fourteen

year-old finely-honed prose. On one particular evening, four-teen-year-old Vendela is feeling like theloneliest person in the world. She losther mother several years before and herbest friend has moved to London. Soshe writes a letter about her yearningfor a friend, which she takes down tothe river and wedges it between twostones without really knowing why. o her astonishment, Vendela re-ceives a reply, but such a strange onethat she thinks it must be a joke. Teletter bears an old-fashioned ten-restamp, the language is very formal andarchaic and the letter is signed Your

twin soul, ilhelm Silveus. It is asthough the letter writer is from a differ-ent time. Vendela continues writing tothe boy and putting the letters amongthe stones by the river, since the addressthe boy has given her does not seem toexist. In fact there is not a single traceleft of him in her own time. Did he everexist? If so, what happened to him? As

Vendela hunts for an answer, she real-ises the boy needs her help. Ultimatelyshe has no choice but to interfere in ahistorically predetermined course ofevents.

A House Without Mirrors

Text: Mrten SandnRights: Nilsson Agency

The Magic Coat

Text: Katarina Genar Ill: Lina BodnRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Everybody Loves Me! And There Is Nothing I

Can Do About It. Text: Mrten MelinRights: Rabn och Sjgren

Pixis Book

Text: Mrten MelinRights: Rabn och Sjgren

Moonbird

Text: Ingelin AngerbornRights: Rabn och Sjgren

Save Him!

Text: Camilla LagerqvistRights: Rabn och Sjgren


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n more of a cla ssic ghost story mouldwe have Kerstin Lundberg Hahnskuggan i vggen(Te Shadow in the

all), an uncanny and unsettling tale.Mikaela, known as Micke, moves with

er mother to a big white house in attle village in the north of Sweden,urrounded by forest and wide rivers.

Tey often have to relocate and Mickeused to being uprooted. Tis time

er mother has found a job at an oldeoples home.

Wen Micke goes into her newoom she sees a patch on the wall thatooks like the shadow of a girl, and be-ore long she hears rumours that theirew house is haunted. A girl who lived

here drowned in the nearby river whenhe was eleven, and some say she wasushed in. Tings start to happen atome, and they soon go beyond inci-ents that can be blamed on the ancientectric wiring in the house. Mickeiscovers things about the dead girl ands fear gradually grips the reader shencovers a sad story that still exerts its

ower over the local people.Skuggan i vggenis a chilling ghost

ory, but it also deals with human rel-ions, issues of mistreated children and

he vastly different conditions in whichhildren find themselves growing up.

Te suspense is finely balanced, thenguage offering moments of reflection

n its vivid descriptions of settings.

It is not all magic and ghosts in booksfor increasingly confident readers. Tereare also slices of everyday life, consider-ations of the issues and questions thatexercise children on the verge of theirteen years. One such child is Moa-LinaCroallscharacter Lisa, who we alreadyknow from De jag som Lisa(ImLisa, ). Lisa is a creative, thought-ful girl, who in that earlier book wastrying to cope with such problems asan absent mother, a grandmother with

Alzheimers and a lack of friends. Butone day a circus troupe arrives, andwith them a girl called Nova, a yearolder than Lisa. A powerful friendshipdevelops between the two girls. In the standalone sequelJag blundaoch nska mig ngo (I Close My Eyesand Make a ish), Lisa is twelve and

her friendship with Nova is taking afew knocks. Some older and toughergirls, including Lisas big sister andher friends, have given Lisa and Novaspecial dispensation to join their secretclub. Nova fits in easily at the club butLisa feels left out. She does not find theclub activities very much fun. Tey sayand do things Lisa does not really wantto join in with, but she feels she hasto. She is pressurised into shoplifting,drinking alcohol and sneaking intothe teen disco, but still feels excluded.However hard she tries, nobody everreally sees her. And her sadness thatNova is drifting away is intensifiedwhen she realises that what she feels forher may be more than friendship. Jag blunda och nska mig ngo

tackles all those difficult things aboutthe transition from childhood to teen-age, trying to strike a balance betweenbeing yourself and wanting to feel partof the group, growing apart from afriend and feeling that you have notmeasured up to expectations. Te prob-lems are many and various, the solu-tions far from simple. Just like real life.

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE YEARSW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR THE MIDDLE YEARS

Hanna in Moa Eriksson SandbergsDenfsa flickan skogen me(Te First Girlthe Forest Meets) is another girl on thethreshold of her teenage years. Hannais twelve, and experiencing all theagonies of approaching puberty in thecourse of the summer holidays. Hannalives in a small town on the est Coast.Her parents argue, there are growingtensions between Hanna and her twobest friends, and to crown it all a girlabout the same age as Hanna, a fellowpupil at her school, is found murderedin the woods. Tere are rumours thatshe had also been raped. It is unusual to find such an unem-

bellished account of pre-pubertal girlsat the time of their sexual awakening.Hannas periods start, her body chang-es and she spends most of her timethinking about boys and sex, thoughshe still retains her innocence andromantic dreams. Te woods functionas a kind of metaphor for the changesin Hannas body. Tey were once aplace where she felt safe, but suddenlythey scare her and she feels she is beingwatched there. All these new elementsare frightening and uncomfortable toher, yet also attractive and exciting.

zebra

zoo

ABC and All About DText/Ill: Nina UlmajaRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Nina Ulmajais a designer at the AlbertBonnier publishing house and usuallyspends her time designing other peo-ples books rather than her own. Buther interest in letters and the alphabetprompted her to publish a book of herown,ABC a om D(ABC and All

About D), which received the AugustPrize in . ABC a om Dis a book for all ages,bursting with facts about the originsand uses of letters. In presenting thealphabet and its history as a whole con-cept, it achieves something really new.Te first three double-page spreadssummarise the entire span of historyand then each letter of the alphabet hasits own double page. Tere is a short,pithy account of how each letter cameto be, and the rest of the space is givenover to a riot of letter-related informa-

The Shadow in the WallText: Kerstin Lundberg Hahn

Rights: Rabn och Sjgren

tion. Wat is an initial letter? Weredid we get the ampersand? Wat is thehardest vegetable to spell? Nina Ulmaja not only wrote thisbook, she also illustrated and designedit. Its pages fizz with colours andshapes. No less than different type-

faces have been used here, an d thatsnot counting all the logos. Te inven-tiveness of the design even extends tothe spine of the book. Te strip of greenrubber across the spine sums up ,

years of the history of writing and thereis even a chance to try your hand atbraille.

I Close My Eyes and Make a Wish Text: Moa-Lina CroallRights: Alfabeta

The First Girl the Forest MeetsText: Moa Eriksson SandbergRights: Rabn och Sjgren


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Todays Swedish books for young adultsare characterised by their serious approachand a preoccupation with internal psychological processes. More humorous booksdo exist, but not in great numbers. Te focus is on the difficult aspects of teenagelife, and the young people are often allowed to speak for themselves as first-personnarrators, or through narrative voices close to the main characters. But the mostnotable trend overall is the increase in the number of female writers and main pro-tagonists in recent years. Tere have been debut novels in the young adult categoryfrom several young women authors and most of them have opted to write about theexperiences of girls and young women, with particular reference to the girls ownperceptions of desire and sexuality. riters in this category include Sara BergmarkElfgren, Moa Eriksson Sandberg, Klara Krantz, Sanne Nsling and Sara Ohlsson.Young adult fiction writers are also increasingly producing crossover titles on theboundaries of adult fiction. One hallmark of this is their more advanced language,and once again it is women writers who are in the vanguard. Genre fiction naturallycontinues to be well represented in books for young adults, with horror and thrill-ers gaining ground.

Te fashion for dystopias and novels about climate-related catastrophes hasnow reached Sweden. Stefan Castas thrilling Den gna cikeln(Te Green Circle,) and its sequel nestle perfectly in this post-apocalyptic niche.

Books foYoung Aduls

NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTSW SWEDISH BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS | SPRING 2013 | BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS

wedish pop star Hkan Hellstrms music is ubiquitous in Give Me Some Arsenic by Klara Krantz (p. 37). Photo: John Scarisbrick/CameraLink


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Te book everyone was talking aboutin was Cikeln(Te Circle) byMats Strandbergand debutant SaraBergmark Elfgren.Tis is the firstpart of their Engelfors trilogy and hasbeen lapped up by young people andadults alike. Cikelnproved a popularand critical success at home and alsodid extremely well abroad. It is quite ararity for a work marketed as a youngadult title to make such an impact, butreading just a few pages of the book,one can see that the success was welldeserved. Te sequel, Eld(Fire) hasnow been published, and is if anythingeven more of a hit. In Cikelnwe make the acquaintanceof six girls in the sparsely populated


FireText: Sara Bergmark Elfgren and MatsStrandberg Rights: Grand Agency

a thought-provoking turn when thegirls gain more insight into eachothers lives. Eldalso offers another strand ofpsychological development. Ida hasbeen the most reluctant of them all toaccept her role as a circle member andhas not come across to the reader, orindeed to the other girls, as a sympa-thetic character. She is stuck-up, cockyand self-absorbed. At the start, one ofher fellow circle members goes so faras to call her something just as evil aswhat they are meant to stop. But Idagradually starts to change and rethinksher loyalties. By the end of the book,we have seen another Ida and beenconfronted with one of the trilogysmost emotional moments so far. Tis combination of nerve-wrackingnarrative momentum and psycholog-ically convincing portrayals of such adiverse range of characters is skilfullydone. By the last page of Eld,readerswill have both laughed and cried.

Te final step awaits in Nyckeln (TeKey) due out in the autumn of ,but to keep us going until then the pub-lisher Rabn & Sjgren has issued theinterim volume Betelse fn Engelfos(Engelfors Stories), a series of shortstories in graphic-novel form in whichEngelfors character Mona Mnstrleis our guide. Using tarot cards as herstarting point, Mona reveals variousthings we did not know about thepast and the present, and hints atwhat is to come. Comic-strip artistsKim W. Andersson, Karl JohnssonandNina Neidestamprovide the pictures.

Engelfors StoriesText: Sara Bergmark Elfgren and Mats StrandbergIll: Kim W. Andersson, Karl Johnsson and Lina NeidestamRights: Grand Agency

country area round the small town ofEngelfors, where they have all started a tthe same upper-secondary school. Teydont know each other and they havelittle in common. At first. One nightwhen the moon is stained red they arecalled together and informed that theyare witches, and what is more, TeChosen Ones. An old prophecy statesthat only they can prevent the apoca-lypse. Amidst all the usual high-schooldistractions of homework, parties,difficult love lives and parental conflictsthey must now master their magicpowers and, most importantly, learnto cooperate and trust each other.ogether, they are the circle. In the second part of the trilogy,Eld, the girls are getting closer to thelast battle. Te focus of the action istwofold: the approaching itchesCouncil trial which Anna-Karin, one ofthe circle members, is facing for previ-ous misuse of her powers; and the sect-like association calling itself PositiveEngelfors, which has got its claws intothe community following the deaththat occurred in the first book. Aroundthese the authors weave a nail-bitingplot that culminates in a thrilling de-nouement even better than the climaxof Part . Te word positive has neverbeen so terrifying. But what makes Eldreally specialis its psychological depth. Cikelnintroduced us to a gallery of charactersexperiencing all the usual teen angst,and now the authors can look deeper.Te circle draws closer together, un-expected friendships develop andpreparations for Anna-Karins trial take

Author/Illustrator Title English title Genre Agent LanguagesAstrid Lindgren Pippi-bckerna Pippi Longstocking books Picture book Rabn & Sjgren 64Sven Nordqvist Pettson & Findus-serien Pettson & Findus series Picture book Opal 38Jujja Wieslander & Sven Nordqvist Mamma Mu-serien Mama Moo-series Picture book Natur och Kultur 32Gunilla Bergstrm Alfons berg-serien Alfie Atkins-series Picture book Rabn & Sjgren 30Martin Widmark & Helena Willis LasseMajas Detektivbyr The LasseMaja Detective Agency Fiction 6-9 Bonnier Group Agency 29Sara B. Elfgren & Mats Strandberg Cirkeln (Engelsforstrilogin) The Circle series Young adult Grand Agency 24Annika Thor En i havet-serien A Faraway Island series Fiction 9-12 Bonnier Group Agency 17Lars Klinting Castor-serien The Castor series Picture book Alfabeta 17Moni Nilsson Tsatsiki-serien Tsatsiki series Fiction 6-9 Natur och Kultur 16Gunilla Wolde Totte & Emma-serien Thomas & Emma series Picture book Natur och Kultur 15

TOP 10 All Time High Rights Sold Series


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Te viewpoints of the two boys areconveyed credibly and precisely. esee sorrow from all angles: the broth-ers emotions range from anger andfrustration to cockiness, vulnerabilityand hatred. Tey are teenage boys whofind it hard to verbalise their feelingsor communicate with each other; theirrelationship is complex and there is agood deal of unfinished business be-tween them, a lot that remains unsaid.Tis is a time when the boys parentsfind it hard to get through to them, anddevelop their own way of coping withtheir feelings. Mum is over-protective

towards Andreas, while Dad loses him-self in his work. Ten Andreas decides he is goingto do three things before he dies: hesgoing to tell Martin what a bloodyidiot he is; hes going to tell Martin howmuch he loves him; and hes going tomake something that will still be therewhen hes gone.


imagination. In real life she is confinedto bed and can hardly lift her legs forher carer to wash her. She cant evenlook out of the window because she istoo sensitive to sunlight. She is gravelyill and there is virtually no hope of acure. Ninnas athletic fantasies keep hergoing. She imagines she has a body thatis superior to everyone elses and thatshe is going to train to run in the worldchampionships. But her family has nopatience with her fantasies. As they seeit, these flights of fancy can only doharm, by holding out the prospect of

hope where there is none. But then anew young man joins the team of carers.He is earning a bit of extra money whilehe studies to be a doctor, and asks whyNinna is not having physiotherapy. Hedoes not dismiss Ninnas fantasies butlistens to her and sees what she needs. mee lyckais a naked and poeticdescription of the life of a severely illgirl and the people around her. Te storyis told from several different points ofview and we share the thoughts notonly of the person in the bed but alsoof those who look on. Tere is a majorrole for Ninnas sixteen-year-old sisterSussie, who is healthy and lives a fairlyordinary teenage life, but is as enviousof Ninna as Ninna is of her. Te family suffers from lack of com-munication. Nobody wants to talk aboutimportant things, and beneath thesurface lurk all the forbidden thoughtsthat nobody dares to voice out loud.Te road to reconciliation is not an easyone, but its portrayal is powerful andtouching. Few readers will reach theend of this book with dry eyes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, death is arecurring theme in books for youngadults. One of the most moving is adebut book, Mean vine och himmel(Between inter and Heaven) by ElinBengtsson,which tells the story ofteenage brothers Martin and Andreas.

Andreas is dying and only has a fewmonths left to live. He is still able to goto school, but has no close friends andat home spends most of his time in hisroom. His medication will not cure himbut helps to ease the pain. His older brother Martin couldhardly be more different. He is thetough, super-confident guy who iswith one of the best-looking girls inthe school. He plays electric guitar andhas lots of friends, but wont let any ofthem get particularly close. Andreas

wants to be like Martin but knows verywell that he isnt. For his part, Martingets annoyed that his brother has sucha grey and uneventful life and is nottrying to make more of the time he hasleft. But Martin also feels guilty that heis not Andreass buddy to the end the best big brother in the world. Hishard and nonchalant attitude at homeand at school is plainly a front, a wayof coping with his grief and his fearof Andreass illness, and his constantguitar playing is his shield against theworld outside.

Te proximity of death is evoked justas compellingly in Maria Nygrensfirstbook mee lycka( Metres ofHappiness). Tere we meet Ninna,who is seventeen and a top-level athlete.In the first chapter she wins the hun-dred metres at the Swedish nationalchampionships. But we soon realisethe race has only been run in Ninnas

Te dynamic of the relationship be-tween girls is a frequent theme in booksfor young adults. Tere is often a fear ofbeing left on the outside or betrayed bya friend. Author and journalist UlrikaLidbosthird novel for young adults,Ine vaten vd(Completely orthless),tackles both subjects, but here it is theperpetrator who tells the story. Te curtain rises on Edith, just backfrom a school trip to the island ofGotland, where her classmate Sigga ranoff in the middle of an organised walk,not saying a word to anyone. But Edithknows why she disappeared and nowfeels so guilty that she hardly knowswhat to do with herself. e alternatebetween Ediths self-reproach and thebackground to Siggas disappearance,

where Ediths best friend, the prettyand self-assured Lucinda, played amajor part. Edith and Lucinda are fourteen orfifteen and have been inseparable sincethey were very young, but Lucindacomes back from a trip to America witha new set of friends. Edith finds herselfedged out and replaced by two othergirls, and in a desperate attempt to clingon to her old alliance she resorts to evermore drastic measures. She is preparedto humiliate herself and adapt toanything. She even sells out on Sigga,

nother graphic novel that has made itsmark is Simon GrdenforssDd kompisMy Dead Mate). Grdenfors uses hiswn life as the basis for his comic strips,nd this autobiographical book was in-pired by the sudden death of his friendalle, at the age of nineteen.

It is and the story opens withhe news that Kalle has been struckown by meningitis. One minutealle is fine, two hours later he is dead.imon, the main protagonist, goes back

n his mind to when he and Kalle firstmet and then continues in the present,elling us about life after his mateseath, and how he tries to find a way to

move on and join the adult world. It isvery personal account yet somehowniversal, as grief and b ereavementften are.

Te design of the book itself, aardback with a slipcase, is very arrest-

ng. Te distinctive pictures take theirnspiration from older Japanese comicrips, primitive V computer games

nd graphic design of an earlier era,nd have a directness that really con-eys the rawness of grief and of a life inrisis. Dd kompisis a graphic novel thatemains true to itself throughout.

betraying a confidence given a longtime before. Lidbo has chosen an unusual pointof view, giving us the unvarnished truthabout the bullys way of seeing thingsand her oscillation between legitimisingher own behaviour and being horrifiedby it. Lidbo offers explanations ofwhat has made Edith the way she isand lets her gradually come to under-stand the true state of affairs. But bythen it is too late. Ine vaten vdis all about beingtrapped where you dont want to be,in a destructive friendship where some-

one else imposes all the conditions andthere is no way out. It is about guiltand what lack of self-esteem can make

you do in a tight spot where the winnertakes all. Lidbos words flow easily, thelanguage is concentrated, and the novelskilfully and ingeniously constructed.

Being betrayed by a friend is also a cen-tral theme in debutant Klara KrantzsGe mig asenik(Give Me Some Arsenic).Here the victim is the narrator Elisabeth,who finds an unusual way of workingthrough her sadness. One perfectlyordinary day, she goes into town tobuy a diary. But something happens tochange her. Instead of buying a diary,she steals the loveliest notebook in theworld, red velvet with a big black

My Dead MateText: Simon GrdenforsRights: Egmont

Between Winter and HeavenText: Elin BengtssonRights: Natur & Kultur

100 Metres of HappinessText: Maria NygrenRights: Bonnier Group Agency

Completely WorthlessText: Ulrika LidboRights: Alfabeta

Give Me Some ArsenicText: Klara KrantzRights: Alfabeta


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Friendship bordering on love is a recur-ring theme in books for young adults.In Hanna JedviksKur Cobain finns ineme(Kurt Cobain Is No More), Alexand first-person narrator Lovis find eachother on their first day at college thanksto their shared interest in music andart. Te story is set in the s, to thesoundtrack of bands like Nirvana, TeCure and Sisters of Mercy. Teir friendship soon becomesall-absorbing, destructive even, andbordering on the obsessive. Te readergradually discovers that Alex is gay andhas a strict, military father who disap-proves of his sons artistic a mbitionsand would not understand his sexualorientation. Lovis also has to cope withhaving involuntarily fallen in love. Alex and Lovis have deep discussionsof music, art and life, go to festivals

together, very occasionally start makingout, discuss boys they are interestedin, and are inseparable at college. Evenwhen they get boyfriends, their friend-ship still comes first, which Lovissboyfriends do their best not to resent.But it is always, at an unconscious level,friendship on Alexs terms. Sometimeshe is open and cheerful, sometimeshe coolly keeps his distance, and some-times he even turns up at Loviss inthe middle of the night with no expla-nation. Tis is a spirited story that builds

and most common of names, he willnot stick out. Kalle is in fact an intelligent, verbalboy. ikipedia is his university, andhe can quote great chunks of text fromsearch terms such as the hypothetical-deductive method, epicentre andComrade as a mode of address. Hisother university is Heidi, the bubblygirl he sees in the counsellors waitingroom, who knows lots about all sortsof things. Kalle finds relationships verydifficult, but something clicks betweenhim and Heidi. Tey become great friendsand are always together, and slowlyKalle starts to feel even more for Heidi.

But there is a secret lurking in the back-ground to put all this under threat. Kalle finds himself in his writing.Tere, his voice is clear, his languageand associations are entirely his own.In Himmel ve HasselaViveka Sjgrenhas come up with a unique voice, andit is done so well that the book is com-pulsive reading. Perhaps it is in part thiscompelling fluency that makes thesudden, painful reversal at the endcome as such a jolt.

e find another brooding young mangoing through a crisis in comic-stripartist Coco Moodyssonsfirst book for

young adults, Onda kafe i Soenuna(Evil Forces in Sollentuna). Fourteen-

year-old Alexander wishes he were

a normal, uncomplicated sporty kidliving in an ordinary house in SilverdalRoad. But he isnt. Wen he was four, his motherwalked out and moved to another partof Sweden. His father is in a new rela-tionship with a woman vicar and theyhave moved in together, so Alexanderhas had to leave his home and school inFarsta. He does not like his dads newpartner or his new stepsister. Nor doeshe like Viola, an awkward girl in hisclass who keeps seeking out

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