Gyldendal Agency Foreign Rights Guide Autumn 2016
Gyldendal Agency Autumn 2016 ANNE CATHRINE ENG RIGHTS DIRECTOR ANNE.CATHRINE.ENG@GYLDENDAL.NO
GYLDENDAL AGENCY IS AN IN-HOUSE LITERARY AGENCY
Gyldendal Agency Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS P.O. Box 6860 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo, Norway Tel: +47 22034100 http://eng.gyldendal.no/
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
The Year Tomas Espedal I wanted to write a book about the seasons spring autumn summer winter the bright days of April and June the darkness of August describe the months the weeks the days the hours of the day and the changes repeating themselves always in a new way
“This is superb literature ... Give it to somebody you love.” BERGENS TIDENDE
So simply, so beautifully is how Tomas Espedal’s new novel, The Year, opens. His prose has always had a poetic undertone, and in this book the poetical is even more prominent than before. The Year is a book about loving the same person all one’s life, even when that love is unrequited. It is a book about ageing and desperation, about stagnation and repetition. The action begins on 6 April, the date when the Italian poet Petrarch saw his beloved Laura for the first time, when she was 13 years old. Relentlessly and beautifully, Tomas Espedal examines whether love of the one and only, love that never ends, the love Petrarch describes in his poems to Laura still has relevance in our age – the grand passion. Is it still possible?
About the author Tomas Espedal was born in Bergen in 1961, where he still lives. He made his debut as a writer in 1988 and has published both novels and collections of short prose. Espedal has three times been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. He has received the Critics’ Prize and the Gyldendal Prize, and was awarded the Brage Prize for Imot naturen (Against Nature, 2011). His books have been sold to 24 countries. NOVEL // ORIGINAL TITLE: ÅRET // 208 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // DENMARK
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT ST NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
“This is superb literature, which in its esthetic accomplished form offers insight and a melancholy comfort when it comes to all the losses we will experience. But it is also a homage to everything that’s beautiful, lovely and painful in our existence. Give it to somebody you love.”
“Tomas Espedal is one of the big names of Norwegian contemporary literature … Dante lifted love up to the heavens or dragged it down to hell. Espedal’s strength is his ability to stay on earth.” NRK P2
BERGENS TIDENDE
“Espedal is a literary pioneer with an unique alertness and sensibility for the many shades of human existence.”
“The text is unusual, beautiful, strange. I want to quote entire pages … The Year is a complex web of text, which strengthens and expands an already significant authorship.”
DAGBLADET
KLASSEKAMPEN
FOREIGN SALES OF PREVIOUS WORKS // BRAZIL, BULGARIA, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, EGYPT, FAROE ISLANDS, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREAT BRITAIN, HUNGARY, ICELAND, INDIA, ISRAEL, ITALY, KOREA, THE NETHERLANDS, POLAND, RUSSIA, SERBIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, TURKEY, USA
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
Max, Mischa & the Tet Offensive Johan Harstad Friendship, exile, love, war and art: Johan Harstad’s breathtaking new epic has it all. “Open your eyes wide! This is a novel which aims high, overflowing with the joy of storytelling, sharp reflections and a deep knowledge of the human being (...) Brutally clever!” VG
Shortlisted for The Norwegian Literary Critics’ Prize
“A gigantic novel about war, love, flight and art which takes your breath away (…) Harstad brings to life the most complex themes with a literary ease, orality and originality which make this a hypnotical read.” DAGBLADET
“Harstad’s masterpiece (...) A truly great novel.”
ADRESSEAVISEN
“A novel can do so many interesting things to you. It can induce laughter and tears, reflection and doubt, forgetting and remembering, understanding and empathy, impatience and irritation. Harstad’s novel does all of this. I have only one thing to say: Respect!” AFTENPOSTEN
“Outstanding epos (…) It is an incredible achievement, and almost impossible to describe. You would have to experience it yourself – which you can if you read this novel.” DAGSAVISEN
About the author Johan Harstad made his debut in 2001 with the prose c ollection From Here On You Just Get Older. His first novel, Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?, was published in 2005, and was a huge critical and commercial success. Harstad has also written short stories, theatre plays and a YA novel, and has been published in 20 territories. NOVEL // ORIGINAL TITLE: MAX, MISCHA & TETOFFENSIVEN // 1104 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
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FICTION CRIME
Big Sister Gunnar Staalesen
“ ... a crime novel among the very best in the Varg Veum series ...”
AFTENPOSTEN
Varg Veum receives a surprising visit at his office from a woman he has never met before. She presents herself as his half-sister. The woman has an assignment for Veum. Her god-daughter, a nineteen-year-old student nurse from Haugesund, moved out of her apartment in Bergen a couple of weeks ago. Since then, no one has heard from her. She has not left any new address. She does not answer her mobile phone. The police have not yet taken the case seriously. Veum takes on the assignment. His investigations uncover half-repressed misdeeds and storedup hatred. They lead Veum to confront an unscrupulous MC gang and to put him on the track of a community that carries out its highly dangerous activities in the murky anonymity of the Internet. And the meeting with the elder sister also ends up showing Veum unknown facets of his own earlier history.
About the author Gunnar Staalesen is the grand old man of modern Norwegian crime fiction. He began his major, award-winning career as a crime writer in 1975, and in 1977 came the first novel about Varg Veum. Big Sister is the 18th novel to feature him.
CRIME // ORIGINAL TITLE: STORESØSTER // 320 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // DENMARK
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FICTION CRIME
“Let this be clear from the start: Both the author and the PI are still going strong and show no signs of old age in this 18th book in the Veum series.”
“Let this be clear from the start: It is always a pleasure to open a new crime novel from Gunnar Staalesen’s hand and immediately recognize the solid work and building of intrigue which is so typical for this Norwegian old master of crime ...”
STAVANGER AFTENBLAD
VG
“… an unpredictable whodunnit that constantly surprises the reader, who feels roughly (but not totally) as smart as Veum himself.”
“ Gunnar Staalesen is a top notch storyteller!” DAGEN
BERGENSAVISEN
“Staalesen proves yet again that he is a premier league literary craftsman ... Varg Veum is, to me, the most interesting character in Norwegian crime writing.”
“ ... the same good old Staalesen style as ever. He never relents – and each new book means a new reading pleasure.”
“ ... one of Staalesen’s best plots ever.”
“ Varg Veum is still going strong.”
HAMAR ARBEIDERBLAD
FÆDRELANDSVENNEN
VARDEN
DAGSAVISEN
Varg Veum was elected the most popular crime hero of all times by the readers of Dagbladet in 2004. In autumn 2008, he gained his own statue on Strandkaien in Bergen, and in 2012 he became the first literary figure to be given the Riverton Club’s honorary award. The books about Varg Veum have been published in 18 countries. Twelve of the novels about the private detective from Bergen were filmatised in the period from 2007 to 2012. Follow his writing here: www.vargveum.no.
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
It can’t get any better Jan Grue August Wilhelmsen has a solid family background, is talented, has ambitions and an exciting job in the accounts department of the Ministry of Industry and Health. A beautiful partner, a dream of perfection and of being of some use. He has a good life ahead of him. For August lives in a highly regulated and rationally governed Norway. The aim of the country is to become a world-leader, with the happiest inhabitants anywhere. A country that facilitates the good life, so that people can realise their full potential, for their own happiness and for the benefit of those closest to them and the society in which they live. It can’t get any better. Jan Grue has written a novel about tomorrow’s society, and thus also about the Norway of today. A society governed by the concept of profitability and the will to do good, by the belief that everything is measurable ... also the value of a life.
About the author Jan Grue made his literary debut in 2010 with the short story c ollection Everything Under Control, which received great reviews. He has studied film and linguistics and has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Oslo. He has been a columnist and book-reviewer for the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen and has published articles in various newspapers and periodicals. NOVEL // ORIGINAL TITLE: DET BLIR IKKE BEDRE // 352 PAGES
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
Varsjøen Thomas Marco Blatt Summer of 1991. Morten Bodrum and his three-year-older brother Markus are among a gang of friends who go off to lake Varsjøen to swim. Markus falls off a cliff, hits his head and drowns. More than 20 years later, Morten gets a phone call from a childhood friend Tommy Lystad, who claims he knows what actually happened on that summer day down at the lake. Morten Bodrum is jerked out of what are already difficult circumstances, and sets out on a journey that is to prove a watershed in his life. Varsjøen is a novel about the dark sides of growing up in Norway – an elegant, low-key and at times amusing portrayal of a man who has both past and present turned upside-down.
“Even stronger is Blatt’s literary achievement, making an everyday hero’s odyssey into a thrilling tour de force that I read impatiently to discover how and where it all will end.” DAGBLADET
About the author Thomas Marco Blatt grew up in Oslo and Sørumsand. He attended the Writing Academy in Bergen and took the author programme Litterär gestaltning at the University of Gothenburg. For his poetry collection Slik vil jeg måle opp verden (That is how I would survey the world, 2006) he received the Tarjei Vesaas Author’s Debut Prize, since when he has published two poetry collections and a young adult novel. Varsjøen is his first adult novel. NOVEL // KOLON FORLAG // ORIGINAL TITLE: VARSJØEN // 182 PAGES
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
A Ghost Story Geir Pollen Subtle novel-writing from Geir Pollen. The narrator in A Ghost Story, a paper engineer who has taken early retirement, does not re-visit his own past – he is haunted by it. The scenario is a night train between St Petersburg and Moscow. From this point the narrative spreads out into the great world outside: a whole life summed up in just 150 small pages of a novel. “Geir Pollen is an eloquent feinschmecker in Norwegian contemporary literature.” DAG OG TID
“Reading Geir Pollen can in fact make you lose sleep … In less than 150 pages he creates a suggestive, but pregnant story about isolation and withdrawal, about fear of life as much as of death. This gives many good, existential chills.” AFTENPOSTEN
About the author Geir Pollen made his debut in 1982 with the poetry collection Postings in Language. He has published several poetry collections and novels. The novel Hutchinson’s Successor was nominated for the Brage Prize and the Nordic Council Literature Prize and has been translated into several languages. Geir Pollen was awarded the Critics’ Prize in 2005 for his translation of W.G. Sebald’s novel Austerlitz. Geir Pollen was born in Bålselv and now lives in Moscow, Berlin and Oslo. NOVEL // ORIGINAL TITLE: EN SPØKELSESHISTORIE // 160 PAGES
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
Earth Assignment Simen Hagerup Earth Assignment is Simen B. Hagerup’s debut novel, a fantasy novel for adults and the first part of a trilogy. Mysterious forces drag the pensioner Tatjana into a weird, alien world where people live in a pact with unpredictable spirits and try to survive in the shadow of a fallen empire. Tatjana joins up with a local fisherman and sets out on a journey across continents. A road movie, a modern picaresque novel – both well written and amusing
About the author Simen B. Hagerup works as a writer, critic and translator. Since his debut book Absolutely everything (2004) he has become known as a particularly experimental and inventive writer, with such publications as Cruel Voids (2009) and Swarm (2012). He has studied in Bø, Copenhagen, Paris and Stockholm, and at present lives in Berlin.
NOVEL // KOLON FORLAG // ORIGINAL TITLE: JORDVERV // 192 PAGES
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FICTION CRIME
The Reunion Knut Faldbakken
What do we carry around with us? What do we manage to get rid of?
Else, Carl-Erik, Oscar and Hedda, four middle-aged members of a reunion committee in Hamar. They have little in common, except that they all belonged to the class of 1985 at Hamar cathedral school, and now they are to plan the 30-year reunion. The last time the class was gathered together, at their 20year reunion, things ended tragically. Hein, one of the absolute leader figures in high school, was found dead in the hotel sauna. Jonfinn Valmann also belonged to the class of 1985, and is contacted by the reunion committee. There are some students from back then that cannot be traced – perhaps he can help them? Valmann is sucked back into a past he has tried to put behind him, and he discovers new things about both himself and his fellow students, where drama smoulders under apparently harmonious facades.
About the author Knut Faldbakken made his debut in 1967 with the novel The Grey Rainbow. Faldbakken’s books have been translated into twenty languages, and almost two million copies have been sold in and outside Norway.
CRIME // ORIGINAL TITLE: GJENSYNET // 270 PAGES
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FICTION THRILLER
The talented Executioner Olav W. Rokseth Leon Gabrielsen was sentenced for the murder of a kiosk owner, but managed to escape from Oslo prison and get to Iran, where his father lives. He drives a taxi, and he is one of those who hangs the noose round killers’ necks. One floodlit evening one of those condemned to death whispers something in his ear. What he hears causes him to break with his new life and go to Norway with a new identity. He now has the assignment to get an agent of Iranian intelligence out of jail. In the meantime, Norwegian Security Police officer Ellen Marie Moi is investigating the murder of an ex-Iranian. Does the murder have anything to do with the secret negotiation meeting between Iran and USA? And does Leon’s assignment have anything to do with that same meeting?
About a man’s intense will to restore his self-respect
About the author Olav W. Rokseth studied as a social scientist and has made a number of trips to Latin America and Asia. He now lives in Oslo, where he works as a journalist.
THRILLER // ORIGINAL TITLE: DEN TALENTFULLE BØDDELEN // 400 PAGES
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
Dream Writer Gunnhild Øyehaug
“Øyehaug is probably the best author in Norway under the age of 42, an intelligent, experimental and extremely self-reflexive humorist.” MORGENBLADET
A woman is unsuccessful in removing varnish from her nails, a professor of literature is to cycle home from a lecture and ends up in a nightmare, a woman dreams continually of something else than this, someone disappears through the side of a bus on a perfectly ordinary rainy day, and intellectual crises also occur in outer space. In brief glimpses life perhaps reveals itself in its purest form, either in dreams or when awake, but who can understand it and who can relate it? Dream writer asks. Farrar, Straus and Giroux has acquired the English rights to Øyehaug’s debut collection, Knots, as well as to her break through novel, Wait, Blink.
About the author Gunnhild Øyehaug teaches at the Academy of Creative Writing in Hordaland and has been an editor of the literary journals Kraftsentrum and Vagant, and a literary critic in Morgenbladet and Klassekampen. Øyehaug has won several prizes for her writing, among them the Hunger Prize (2009) and the Dobloug Prize (2009). Her previous titles have been translated into several languages.
SHORT STORIES // KOLON FORLAG // ORIGINAL TITLE: DRAUMESKRIVAR // 120 PAGES
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
“… well written and riveting …” DAGBLADET
“In Dream Writer Gunnhild Øyehaug is a wise and witty guide through landscapes where everything could happen … the author juggles superbly with narrative voices and positions ...” DAG OG TID
“Øyehaug is, as always, a stylish and humorous author. She maneuvers effortlessly between very different narrative voices, she actively uses less common narrative techniques, she is impulsive and energetic. All of this makes her a joy to read.” AFTENPOSTEN
“Virtuoso … Gunnhild Øyehaug’s short stories move elegantly in and out of fictions.” KLASSEKAMPEN
“There are few who writes so sparkling feather light and playful as Gunnhild Øyehaug.” DAGSAVISEN
“Still one of our most playful and original short story writers.” BERGENS TIDENDE
“Few Norwegian writers can depict life’s gravity with more liberating lightness than Gunnhild Øyehaug.” VG
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
All my Demons Nikolaj Frobenius
Diabolical, sombre and powerful
The father of a family has serious neighbour problems. A partner feels lifeless. A refugee loses his memory. A drug-addict lives for the kicks. A young man is afraid to sleep. A skier freaks out. The stories in All my Demons often arises out of everyday situations, but the fragile facades of existence soon start to show cracks. The sinister side starts to trickle out. The idyll grows grotesque. Apparent friendliness turns into linguistic and physical violence. In his first collection of short stories, Nikolaj Frobenius focuses on the paradoxes that lie as an undercurrent in people’s lives in well-regulated, modern Norway – and he paints the unrest of individuals in a powerful narrative style.
About the author Nikolaj Frobenius made his debut with the poetry and essay collection Whirl in 1986. He received his breakthrough both in Norway and abroad in 1996 with his novel Latour’s Catalogue, and his books have been translated into 18 languages.
SHORT STORIES // ORIGINAL TITLE: ALLE MINE DEMONER // 144 PAGES
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
All is well Vidar Kvalshaug In All is well Vidar Kvalshaug plays with the short story form and examines relations between children and parents, spouses in sorrow and ecstasy about possible new partners and new paths in life. How far can things go before one upsets the applecart? What can be smoothed over, what can we forgive? What is it important to remember, and what would one do best to forget? Vidar Kvalshaug attempts in this collection of short stories to uncover the small rifts in a life that can open up into huge chasms. Or continue to be small cracks that we paper over by saying that all is well.
The press about Trampoline land (2013) “Painful, strong short stories about the role of a father” FÆDRELANDSVENNEN
“There is much to be happy about in Vidar Kvalshaug’s short stories. There is a lot of temperature and there are astute, original observations of nature and human beings in these stories. Several of them are small mini-novels in scope and content.” DAGSAVISEN
About the author Vidar Kvalshaug started out as a journalist in the local press, continuing his career in Oslo. He now works as an editor for Kagge publishing company.
SHORT STORIES // ORIGINAL TITLE: ALT PÅ STELL // 150 PAGES
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Working Hands Jan Kristoffer Dale
“The narrative style feels relaxed and the entire collection comes through as warm and credible portraits of completely ordinary lives.”
The short stories in Working Hands have to do with those who have fallen by the wayside, who did not manage to get through school, and dropped out. The unskilled. Those who never left home. Those who never found anyone to settle with, and those who were abandoned. The short stories all take place in the same environment and deal with ordinary people’s lives and work. All of them are toiling away with their own problems: love, economy and themselves. Some are trapped in situations they cannot extricate themselves from, while others have to choose who they want to be and how they want to live.
FÆDRELANDSVENNEN
“Dale’s short stories are apparently simple in their build-up. The best of them also have “Carverian” moments of atmosphere changes that in a hushed voice lift the story to something more than it was to begin with.” NRK
About the author Jan Kristoffer Dale has worked at a brewery and is a former student at the Writer Academy in Bergen. He has published several short stories, but Working Hands is his first collection.
SHORT STORIES // KOLON FORLAG // ORIGINAL TITLE: ARBEIDSNEVER // 96 PAGES
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FICTION NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES
Just North of the Church – Stories 1994–2016 Jonny Halberg In Just North of the Church – Stories 1994–2016 we meet people who live rough lives on the borderline, without being aware of it, love relationships that cannot be brought back to life, children who witness how life unfolds in poverty, coastal life in mysterious nakedness, as well as people who disappear and will perhaps never appear on the scene again. I knew what they wanted. They wanted me to admit that I was sick and needed help. They wanted me to move out of my place and into a place where I could get treatment. But I am ok, my head is clear, I have a far better memory than they have.
About the author Jonny Halberg made his debut with the collection of short stories Transition to the Tertiary in 1989, since when he has published a number of collections of short stories, novels and film manuscripts. Halberg has been awarded several literary prizes, including the Critics’ Prize and Sultprisen as well as the P2 Listeners’ novel prize.
SHORT STORIES // KOLON FORLAG // ORIGINAL TITLE: LIKE NORD FOR KIRKA – FORTELLINGER 1994–2016 // 128 PAGES
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Books for children and young adults
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CHILDREN PICTURE BOOKS
The Bird Coat Inger Marie Kjølstadmyr and Øyvind Torseter (ill.) Pierre is a tailor with a big dream. He wants to fly. He therefore decides to make a bird coat. He works night and day on it and when the bird coat is finally finished, he climbs the Eiffel Tower to prove that it works. But is it really possible for a man to become a bird? The Bird Coat is based on the true story of Franz Reichelt, ‘the flying tailor’, who in 1912 jumped off the Eiffel Tower in an attempt to fly.
About the author and illustrator Inger Marie Kjølstadmyr has worked on the Henrik Ibsen’s Writings project, as well as working as a literary critic. Øyvind Torseter has received The Ministry of Education’s Prize several times and has also been awarded the international children’s book prize Bologna Ragazzi. PICTURE BOOKS // ORIGINAL TITLE: FUGLEFRAKKEN // 56 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // FRANCE, SWITZERLAND
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CHILDREN PICTURE BOOKS
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CHILDREN PICTURE BOOKS
Three Cars and a Dead Cat Gry Moursund An exciting cat murder tale that unravels in a fantastic seventies universe.
“A story that makes a strong impression on the children.” VG
There are only three cars on the island. That is still one too many when one of them runs over the nicest cat in the world. Who can the murderer be? The shop owner, who swears on the life of his parents, although they are already dead? Karsten Oppihaugen, who knows more curse words than anyone else on the island? Or could it be Laila, the taxi driver no one really knows, and who has a slightly scary dog called Alex?
About the author Gry Moursund has an education in illustration and graphic design from Oslo National Academy of the Arts. She has received a number of prizes for her books.
PICTURE BOOKS // ORIGINAL TITLE: TRE BILER OG EN DØD KATT // 48 PAGES
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CHILDREN PICTURE BOOKS
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CHILDREN READ ALOUD
Brown Håkon Øvreås and Øyvind Torseter (ill.) Winner of the Dutch Zilveren Griffel (Silver Pen) 2015 Selected as Top 10 Teacher’s Choice by China Education Newspaper 2015 Nordic Council Literature Prize 2014 Ministry of Culture’s Children’s Book Prize 2013 Trollkrittet Debut Prize 2013 Shortlisted for the Brage Prize 2013 “In this enourmously charming book we meet three little superheroes, each equipped with a bucket of paint … Torseter’s beautiful drawings show us what it’s like to feel small and out of place in a big world. They also evoke the warmth of the friendship between the children … Warmly recommended!” AFTENPOSTEN
As long as the sun is up, Rune is merely Rune, but come night he transforms himself into Brown - a totally fearless super hero. Armed to the hilt with brushes and brown paint he sneaks out of the house. Rune can hardly be blamed if Brown chooses to paint the big bullies’ bikes brown, can he? Brown is a book about friendship, courage and retaliation. It is also a book about missing one’s grandfather and just how wrong things can go when your super hero powers run out. Brown is the first book of a trilogy.
Rights sold to 21 countries
About the author Håkon Øvreås had published three books of poetry before publishing his first children’s book, Brown, in 2013, for which he has received numerous prizes, among them the Nordic Council Literature Prize for Children and Young Adults.
READ ALOUD 6-9 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLE: BRUNE // 136 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // BRAZIL, CHINA, DENMARK, FAROE ISLANDS, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, HUNGARY, ICELAND, ITALY, JAPAN, KOREA, LITHUANIA, THE NETHERLANDS, PALESTINA, SLOVENIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY, USA
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CHILDREN READ ALOUD
Black Håkon Øvreås and Øyvind Torseter (ill.) A new girl has moved into the old bakery. Atle finds her exciting. He thinks that if only he borrows the mayor’s prize-winning hen and then pretends that he has found it, he is sure to get into the news paper, and the new girl will be impressed and like him. It is worth a try. But when the attempt does not go completely according to plan, everything suddenly becomes a bit tricky. Atle needs help from the super hero Black, and his faithful companions Brown and Blue. Brown and Blue do not completely understand what has happened, or what they are involved in, but neither does Atle, really. Get ready for action and all sorts of complications. Black is the second book of a trilogy. The third and final book, Blue, will be published in 2017.
“Playful, but serious, with room for both foolhardy escapades and quiet reflections. In Black the children can be untruthful, scatter-brained, creative and vain. Their relations and fantasyworlds come alive. And most important of all, the children are respected as readers.” SVENSKA DAGBLADET, SWEDEN
About the illustrator Øyvind Torseter made his debut as an illustrator in 1999 and illustrates his own texts as well as other authors’ texts. He has received The Ministry of Education’s Prize several times and has also been awarded the international children’s book prize Bologna Ragazzi.
READ ALOUD 6-9 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLE: SVARTLE // 200 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // CHINA, DENMARK, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, KOREA, LITHUANIA, THE NETHERLANDS, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY
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CHILDREN READ ALONE
Anneli Klepp and Sandra Steffensen (ill.) New Boy Commotion Leo is the name of the new boy in the class. Everyone’s pleased about it, except Line. She thinks there are already far too many male dummies in the class as it is. When Leo says that he is going to have a halfbrother, Line says that so is she. But who’s said that the half-brother absolutely has to be new? Anneli Klepp writes with warmth and humour about things that are easily recognizable. This is the fourth book about Line. Said about the previous books in Line’s World: “This is a wise and good book ... Easy to read with funny illustrations.” TANUM SKOLEBIBLIOTEK
“Nice, easy to read and funny book about friendship.” TELEMARKSBIBLIOTEKET
About the author and the illustrator Anneli Klepp made her debut in 2006 with Rotten Complications and Hot Blueberry Pie, and has since written many books for children. Sandra Steffensen is a qualified illustrator from Kristiania University College in Trondheim and the University of Hertfordshire. READ ALONE 6–9 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLE: GUTTE-SPETAKKEL 96 PAGES
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CHILDREN READ ALONE
Exposed Secrets Line is not in love, but even so, against her will, she attends the meeting of the In Love Club - the club where everybody has to be in love. Three best friends, a secret club and a bit too many white lies cause problems to heap up for Line.
Summer Surprises Line is so angry and sad that she messes everything up, and it is all Dad’s fault! Anneli Klepp tells a heartfelt story about the worst summer ever. The second book about Line deals with how hard it can be to talk about things that really make you feel sad.
Down Jacket Lies Line has got to have a new down jacket. It’s got to be exactly like those Emma and Eva have, because cool friends have to have the same things. So say Emma and Eva. But mum says no, for Line got one a year earlier. What’s she to do? She simply MUST have a new down jacket! Fortunately, Alex has a brilliant idea...
READ ALONE 6–9 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLES: SPREKKE-HEMMELIGHETER / SOMMER-OVERRASKELSER / BOBLE-LØGNER // 96 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // DENMARK
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CHILDREN MIDDLE GRADE
Marius Molaug and Kristoffer Kjølberg (ill.) The World’s Worst Birthday A new, riotous book in the popular ‘World’s Worst’ series, with Kent and Ruben in the main roles. This time it’s the world’s worst birthday that’s about to happen. Ruben is to organise his birthday party, but how does one actually make sure that people turn up? And especially the girls in the class? Ruben and Kent have to get popular in no time at all, but, as usual, things do not exactly go as planned. Laugh-out-loud-books for readers of Jeff Kinney and Andy Griffiths!
About the author and the illustrator Marius Molaug works as editor of the N orwegian edition of Donald Duck. He is a member of the creative community Dongery. Kristoffer Kjølberg is a prize-winning illustrator and graphic designer. He is a member of the creative community Dongery. MIDDLE GRADE // ORIGINAL TITLE: VERDENS VERSTE BURSDAG 98 PAGES
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CHILDREN MIDDLE GRADE
The World’s Worst Holiday Ruben and Kent can’t wait for the summer holidays. Kent’s father has won three tickets to somewhere warm. But the trip does not go as planned. Already on the first day, Kent’s father drifts out to sea, asleep on an air bed. How is this all going to end?
The World’s Worst Christmas It is time for the annual Christmas play. Ruben has been cast as Virgin Mary, while Kent will play baby Jesus. The headmaster has snatched the role as God. But the snow-covered roof collapses and the actors are trapped with the headmaster. The stage is set for the world’s worst Christmas.
The World’s Worst Headmaster It is time for the annual swimming day at school, and this is Ruben’s final chance to earn his swimming achievement mark. There is only one problem: He can’t swim.
MIDDLE GRADE // ORIGINAL TITLES: VERDENS VERSTE FERIE / VERDENS VERSTE JUL / VERDENS VERSTE REKTOR // 96 PAGES / 124 PAGES / 104 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // DENMARK, GERMANY, POLAND, SWEDEN
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CHILDREN READ ALONE 6–9 YEARS
New series by Arne Svingen
Svingen’s Mad World: The Impossible Bike Bodrik can stand on one leg. He has paddled a kayak. He has once balanced for over two seconds on a narrow plank. But he can’t ride a bike. So it’s naturally totally uncool to get a bike as a birthday present.
Svingen’s Mad World: Espen Askeladd and the King of the South Once upon a time... hey, wait a sec. It wasn’t all that long ago, actually. For two weeks ago last Thursday, Espen Askeladd stood in front of his tiresome brothers and said: ‘The longest holiday I’ve ever had lasted ten minutes and it rained. So now I’m off to the South to get myself a tan.’
About the author and the illustrator Arne Svingen is one of Norway’s most popular authors. His books have received several awards and been translated into twelve languages. Henry Bronken is a Norwegian cartoonist. His first comic was published in the Norwegian anthology Forresten in 2001. Several comic books has since been published. READ ALONE 6–9 YEARS // ILLUSTRATED BY HENRY BRONKEN // ORIGINAL TITLE: DEN UMULIGE SYKKELEN / ESPEN ASKELADD OG SYDENKONGEN // 56 PAGES
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CHILDREN READ ALONE 8 YEARS
Svingen’s Dark World: Your Money or Your Life Arne Svingen Henrik has 24 hours to get hold of more money that he has ever had his hands on. Otherwise... Henrik is on his way home from school when a car suddenly drives up onto the pavement in front of him. Two shady-looking burly men get out. One of them comes up to him quickly and says: ‘This is your last warning. You have 24 hours to pay back the money you owe. If you don’t cough up the dough, we’ll find you, and you know what happens then, don’t you?’ ‘What happens then?’ The man draws a finger across his throat. Henrik knows perfectly well what that movement means. Henrik is all of a sudden in the middle of his life’s worst nightmare. A man he has never seen before claims that Henrik owes him money. Loads of money – 100,000 NOK. Henrik has never had that sort of money before. It must simply be a misunderstanding!
This is book 15 in Svingen’s Dark World Previous titles: The Treasure Map, The Prediction, The Halloween House, Evil Basement, The Executioners in the Cemetery, The Naughty Pupil, The Cloak, Room 13, The Evil Teacher, Snapping Jaws, Cruel nights, The Man with Six Fingers, The Ghost Hotel, The Storm
About the author and the illustrator Arne Svingen is one of Norway’s most popular authors. His books have received several awards and been translated into twelve languages. Torstein Nordstrand is an illustrator and concept artist. He has provided original artwork for print and the screen world-wide since 2002. READ ALONE 8 YEARS // ILLUSTRATED BY TORSTEIN NORDSTRAND // ORIGINAL TITLE: PENGENE ELLER LIVET // 64 PAGES
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CHILDREN MIDDLE GRADE
Icarus Olsen’s Struggle to Get to the Top 2: The TV War Bjørn Ingvaldsen It’s easy to be rich – once you are rich. It’s getting rich that’s the problem. How do you set about it? Icarus Olsen starts to tackle this problem with his equally impecunious friend Dick. For there’s lots of money out there. Why can’t some of it end up with Icarus and Dick? Back in the house with three basements Grandpa, the Burier and the Ice Princess all waiting – all three of them with dreams of wealth and fame. What if they join forces? A new TV station that only sends game shows and the mysterious Regina Rex also appear on the scene as things progress. As does a fishing boat with a vast amount of popcorn. This book is the follow-up to Icarus Olsen’s Struggle to Get to the Top: The Pixie War. A black comedy about rich and poor from one of our best-known children’s book authors.
About the author Bjørn Ingvaldsen made his debut in 1995 with a collection of short stories for adults. Since then he has written several books for children and adults. His books for children have been translated into Danish, French, German and Italian.
MIDDLE GRADE 9-13 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLE: IKAROS OLSENS KAMP FOR Å NÅ TOPPEN 2: TV-KRIGEN // 144 PAGES
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CHILDREN MIDDLE GRADE
Icarus Olsen’s Struggle to Get to the Top: The Pixie War Bjørn Ingvaldsen There is only one way: upwards... and possibly a little downwards too. Icarus Olsen is 12 years old. He lives in a third basement floor together with his grandfather, who has been a diver and therefore knows everything about being right down on the bottom. But Icarus doesn’t want to be on the bottom any more. He’s tired of being on the bottom rung, along with his grandfather who is terribly poor. So he wants to move upwards, he wants to become rich and happy. And he has a plan. And the plan’s name is Dick, the richest of the rich boys in the class. Icarus is going to get Dick to invite him home. There he is going to learn everything about becoming happy. A black comedy from one of our best-known writers of children’s books.
MIDDLE GRADE 9-13 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLE: IKAROS OLSENS KAMP FOR Å NÅ TOPPEN – NISSEKRIGEN // 136 PAGES
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YOUNG ADULTS SUPERNATURAL THRILLER
The Well of the Souls The Lance Trilogy 2 Ørjan N. Karlsson
What happens when three young people of today find themselves in Nazi Germany in the year 1941?
A month ago, Martin Sølvfoss was just an ordinary young Norwegian exchange student in England, but when his father was reported missing after a sailing trip, he discovered that the Sølvfoss family had been guardians of one of the three holy fragments of the lance that pierced Christ’s side when he hung on the cross. The hunt for the fragment takes him through a portal into Nazi Germany in 1941. To be able to return to his own time, Martin has to find the holy fragment. But the pieces of the lance attract dark forces – ones that already have control over two of the three pieces. If this evil gets hold of the last fragment of the lance, history will be changed. The world will be plunged into darkness and chaos. Three pieces of the lance – two guardians – a timeless evil. The Well of the Souls is the second book of The Lance Trilogy.
About the author Ørjan Nordhus Karlsson is a social scientist, has an army officer education and has also taken part in assignments overseas. He has published several thrillers, science fiction and crime novels for adults. The books of The Lance Trilogy are his first novels for young adults.
SUPERNATURAL THRILLER // ORIGINAL TITLE: SJELENES BRØNN – LANSETRILOGIEN 2 // 256 PAGES
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YOUNG ADULTS SUPERNATURAL THRILLER
The Time Rose The Lance Trilogy 1 Ørjan N. Karlsson Martin Sølvfoss goes to a boarding school in Cambridge, where it is end of term. Then Uncle Lauritz turns up – his father is missing on a boat trip. Martin must go home to Norway. At the same time, strange things start to happen. Martin has visions. He experiences time coming to a stop and receives a letter from his deceased grandfather in which it says that he has inherited a property. Martin sets out, and along with his friends Kaia, Elisabeth and Cad he soon realises that there is a great deal he never knew about his own grandfather and the Sølvfoss family. An incredible secret is revealed – since the Second World War Martin’s family have been guardians of one of the three holy fragments from the lance that was stuck into Christ’s side when he was hanging on the cross. And now someone is searching for it.
“A suspenseful, mystic, creepy and fastpaced story … a real page turner.” THE BLOGGER AND LIBRARIAN RITALESER
The Time Rose is the first book of The Lance Trilogy.
SUPERNATURAL THRILLER // ORIGINAL TITLE: TIDSROSEN - LANSETRILOGIEN 1 // 248 PAGES
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YOUNG ADULTS SCI-FI/DYSTOPIA
The Victim – Beta 3 Amund Hestsveen and Torborg Igland
The story about Livni, Kodak and Jor comes to a captivating end in this third instalment of the Beta-trilogy
The sixteen-year-olds Kodak and Jor, have fled to a desert island, along with a group of teenagers. They manage to hook up an illegal network and this enables them to send out information via Skandia’s surveillance network, Sys. What will happen when people discover the destiny of those who are not chosen? When they learn that hundreds of teenagers are being terminated, just outside the city wall? When they see that the First Free Leader and the Benefactors live a life of luxury – while the population at large live under oppression? Winter is approaching, and life on the island is getting increasingly taxing. Internal strife is going to break out on the island. Are they to fight with bullets and weapons? Or will the teenagers manage to use art to change people’s hearts before it’s too late?
About the authors Amund Hestsveen has a university degree in philology and English. He has worked as a newspaper journalist for fifteen years, but now works as a freelancer. Torborg Igland has a university degree in social sciences. She has worked as a newspaper journalist for fifteen years, but now works as a freelancer. SCI-FI/DYSTOPIA // ORIGINAL TITLE: OFFERET (BETA 3) // 496 PAGES
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YOUNG ADULTS SCI-FI/DYSTOPIA
The Escape – Beta 1 In an alternative version of our world, in the decades following a military coup, the Nordic nations’ identities have been erased, and the totalitarian state Skandia has evolved. Pollution disasters have made nature toxic, and the sea is out of bounds. Art, literature and music are banned. Very few have a concept of family life, most people grow up in dorms, in fierce competition to be chosen for officer training and a privileged life. Just before the dreaded Selection is about to take place, fifteen year old Kodak, Livni and Jor unearth a dreadful secret. Something has to happen. And they understand what they have to do …
The Island - Beta 2 Kodak and Jor have escaped from the dorm and Skandia, an ice-cold dictatorship where art, literature and music are forbidden. Along with 24 other 15-year-olds they have fled to an uninhabited island, where there are still remains of the old civilisation. At least if the map the archer left behind is correct. Back in Skandia, Livni lies injured in the infirmary. She has to act the role of her life. No one must know what actually happened. No one must know what she actually did, or who she is helping. Because they can’t give up now, can they?
SCI-FI/DYSTOPIA // ORIGINAL TITLE: FLUKTEN (BETA 1) // 488 PAGES ORIGINAL TITLE: ØYA (BETA 2) // 512 PAGES
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“This book is truly one of the best dystopian novels I have ever read. The way everything is constructed and written is brilliant. The authors have written a masterpiece of a book with no weaknesses. Two clever authors with one outstanding achievement. I recommend both this and the first book to anybody and everybody. I give The Island six out of six stars.” FOLKEBLADET
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CHILDREN PICTURE BOOKS
Crow’s Castle Ingvill Solberg and Jill Moursund (ill.) An illustrated book with the right scary touch about spending the night away from home Selma has a new friend at kindergarten. Emma is tremendous fun to play with, and it’s also great to visit her. But it’s no longer quite so much fun when Selma suddenly has to stay the night. For Emma lives in an old and slightly sinister house that her mother calls a ‘crow’s castle’, apart from which she is rather good at telling ghost stories. And that makes sleeping quite difficult.
About the author and illustrator Ingvill Solberg made her literary debut with the poetry collection Gehør in 2001. Her first picture book, The Lost Piece of Jewellery, came in 2015 and was illustrated by Jill Moursund. Jill Moursund is an illustrator with a degree in visual communication from The Academy of Art in Oslo and has done illustration work for several books and magazines. PICTURE BOOKS // ILLUSTRATED BY JILL MOURSUND ORIGINAL TITLE: KRÅKESLOTTET // 40 PAGES
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CHILDREN PICTURE BOOKS
Do you want to play? Svein Nyhus In Do you want to play? we meet Butti who lives inside the book. Butti takes the reader on a guided tour with many tasks along the way, tasks like turning the book upside down to continue reading, to give Butti a hug and to sit on your hands. Svein Nyhus has created a cute character who is easy to identify with. Butti encourages the reader to help create the story while also teaching the child small, but important lessons, like for example: Can you point to your ear?
About the author and illustrator Svein Nyhus’ mixture of easily accessible texts, caricature, curiosity and gravity appeals to adults as much as to children. In recent years, he has made some of Norway’s best picture books, and has carved out a new genre. Svein Nyhus has won several awards, among them The Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs’ Prize three times. PICTURE BOOKS // ORIGINAL TITLE: SKAL VI LEKE? // 32 PAGES
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CHILDREN PICTURE BOOKS
It’s Tambar’s Birthday Tor Åge Bringsværd Tambar goes on new adventures! It’s the world’s sweetest troll kid’s birthday! And of course it will be celebrated up in the mountains with troll family from all over the country. But – what’s the Mischief Maker doing here, inside the mountain? Has it plans to ruin the whole cele bration? Tambar has to fix things – and it is lucky that he knows how to speak animal language! “A particularly successful collaboration between Tor Åge Bringsværd and Lisa Aisato.”
This is the ninth book about the little troll Tambar.
AFTENPOSTEN
“An enchanting troll.” FORELDRE OG BARN
About the author and illustrator Tor Åge Bringsværd is an award-winning playwright and author who writes for all ages. His works have been translated into 23 languages, and his plays have been staged in 11 different nations. Lisa Aisato is a writer, illustrator and artist. Her books have been translated into 16 languages. PICTURE BOOKS // ILLUSTRATED BY LISA AISATO ORIGINAL TITLE: TAMBAR HAR BURSDAG // 40 PAGES
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CHILDREN NON-FICTION
Fun with Food Håkon Forfod Sønneland and Sondre Harvik Bjaberg With this book, kids young and old will get the urge to prepare food. And it’ll be good food! Here are such well-known dishes as pancakes and baked potatoes, but also exciting variants such as salmon with green spots and couscous. Among the 35 recipes you will also find one for the world’s quickest chocolate cake and other taste bombshells. The illustrations show kids preparing food in their own kitchen, details in the process and the finished dishes. They don’t have to look perfect, but attractive and familiar.
Your very first and simplest cookbook
About the authors Håkon Sønneland and Sondre Bjaberg have earlier published Fun for 2-,3-, 4- and 5-year-olds. Håkon has a background as a journalist and photographer as well as stand-up performances, while Sondre is an infant school teacher. He has also had a teaching job at Geitmyra Food Culture Centre for Children. NON-FICTION // ORIGINAL TITLE: KULT MED MAT // 88 PAGES
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CHILDREN READ ALONE
You Lene Ask You is about arriving a new place where the woods smell different and the birds sing songs that you do not know. Even the sun is cooler than at home. But you cannot go home, because what used to be your home does not exist anymore. Who are you when almost nobody know your language nor your name?
Loose Screw Rune Markhus Deep in the woods lives an itty bitty man on mushrooms that he finds on the ground. One day he finds a strange, shiny object. It does actually look a little like a mushroom so the man decides to bring it home with him. But what if this object belongs to somebody? An owner that will come back to look for it?
About the authors Lene Ask is a writer and illustrator. She received the Sproing Award in 2007 and made her literary debut in 2008 with the picture books about the Rotle Family. Rune Markhus has a degree from Westerdals School of Communication and works as an illustrator. He has received several prizes for his book illustrations. WORD-FREE BOOKS // ORIGINAL TITLE: DU / EN SKRUE LĂ˜S 40 PAGES
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CHILDREN READ ALONE
MAGICAL STORIES WITHOUT WORDS In 2016 we are adding a new genre to the book palette! WORD-FREE books. These are books that can be read by proficient and poor readers alike, but that give those less proficient in the 6-9 target group that special feeling of finally having read a whole book. On their own! To tell a story without using words is an extremely demanding exercise. We have therefore asked some of the best visual story-tellers in Norway to do it.
The Cup Kristoffer Kjølberg I’m Out of Here Mari Kanstad Johnsen
About the authors Kristoffer Kjølberg is a prize-winning illustrator and graphic designer. He is a member of the creative community Dongery. Mari Kanstad Johnsen works as an illustrator and artist. She made her debut as a children book’s illustrator with Barbiedoll Nils and the Pistol Problem in 2011. WORD-FREE BOOKS // ORIGINAL TITLE: POKALEN / JEG RØMMER 32 PAGES
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CHILDREN READ ALONE 8 YEARS
The Fenmyr Forest Mystery Sissel Chipman Elinor lives on a farm on the edge of Fenmyr forest. She knows that the forest is extremely dangerous for humans at night when the grim green tramps come out of hiding. So she normally stays at a safe distance, but when Filip’s deadly dachshund tries to kill Elinor’s cockerel, Hamish, she runs into the forest to save him. Filip follows her, but Elinor runs faster than him, and when she finally stops, she no longer knows where she is or how to get out of the forest again. Before she realises it, the sun starts to set. The two youngsters are alone, separated from each other, in a forest full of dark forces. Will they manage to get out again alive?
About the author Sissel Chipman is one of few Norwegian female writers writing in the fairy tale segment of the fantasy genre. She gathers inspiration from folklore, legends and folk tales, and she is a great storyteller.
READ ALONE FROM 8 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLE: MYSTERIET I FENMYRSKOGEN // 265 PAGES
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CHILDREN READ ALONE 8 YEARS
The Bone Collector Marit Reiersgård Jørgen takes the scariest slide at the waterpark. He doesn’t want to, but doesn’t want to look like a coward either. He picks up far too much speed and hits the water with a bang. When he finally comes up to the surface, he is suddenly alone. Somewhere else completely. He is lying out in a small lake in a forest he has never seen before. Jørgen swims towards the shore and heaves himself up onto dry land. He starts to run into the forest, but there is no one there. Even so, it feels as if someone is keeping an eye on him.
About the author Marit Reiersgård has written short stories, books for children and young adults, as well as crime novels for adults.
READ ALONE FROM 8 YEARS // ORIGINAL TITLE: KNOKKELSAMLEREN // 144 PAGES
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CHILDREN MIDDLE GRADE
The Revolver Kid 2 Arne Svingen
About The Revolver Kid: “Yet again Arne Svingen has delivered a book of such calibre that there is hope of getting boys to read it. And it deals with more than mindless action so uncle is safe buying it.”
The follow-up to The Revolver Kid is an actionpacked, warm, gripping and original story for omnivorous young readers. The Revolver Kid 2 is the continuation of the dramatic story of Robin and his completely unusual boyhood in a criminal family. Already at a young age he knows almost everything about the crime scene. Dad has escaped from prison. He’s done something stupid, and this time Robin is the only one who can help him. It’s got to do with deadly contracts and dangerous drug-barons. But most of all with fathers and friendship, and with choosing one’s own path.
VÅRT LAND
About the author Arne Svingen is one of our most popular writers and has written a number of books, ranging from easy-read books for children to YA novels. His books have received several awards and been translated into twelve languages.
MIDDLE GRADE // ORIGINAL TITLE: REVOLVERGUTTEN 2 // 176 PAGES FOREIGN SALES // DENMARK
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YOUNG ADULTS THRILLER
Thea2 Tore Oksholen Distinctive and original thriller Thea sees dead people in the underground. She’s used to that. Sometimes she strikes up a conversation with them if she’s in the right mood. She doesn’t make any fuss of the fact that she sees corpses. That’s just the way it is. One day, however, someone she knows dies, and turns up in the underground shortly afterwards. At the same time, something inside Thea starts to move. Something that wants to get out. Thea gradually realises that there is something special about the dead people who end up in the underground – and that she has to find the explanation as to why precisely these corpses end up there. If she fails, more will die. Many more.
When I thought that thought, I realised what it was. What’s growing inside me. I am Thea2. Thea to the power two. Thea times Thea, or times something I don’t really know what it is. Who it is. There is someone in me that is growing and wants to escape from the darkness in there and be free.
About the author Tore Oksholen has published three thrillers for adults. Thea2 is his second thriller for young adults.
THRILLER // ORIGINAL TITLE: THEA2 // 480 PAGES
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YOUNG ADULTS CONTEMPORARY
Slightly Happy Linn T. Sunne
Realistic young adult novel by prize winning author Linn T. Sunne
The summer when Milla gives away something important, and neither the village nor Milla will ever be the same again. It is summer. Milla should have been in Tuscany with her best friend Lucia, but instead she is going on a stave church road trip with her mother. They set out on their mother-and-daughter journey in a beaten-up old car, and when it totally breaks down in a tiny village in Valdres, good advice is hard to come by. And expensive too. The emergency solution is a small room in a boarding house that strictly speaking had closed down, full of cats and with wrecks of cars in the garden. But just when things seem blackest, a prince appears at the grocery store. And everything is turned topsy-turvy.
About the author Linn T. Sunne published her first book in 2000, and since then she has written many books for children and young adults. In 2007 she received the Brage Prize for the best young adult novel.
CONTEMPORARY // ORIGINAL TITLE: LETT LYKKELIG // 160 PAGES
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YOUNG ADULTS CONTEMPORARY
Lopsided Heidi Sævareid What do you do if you want to escape from yourself? I’m someone who can never find the right words, I’m someone who freezes, I’m someone who feels rage on the point of bursting out but never does anything, just freezes or leaves, I just do a bunk, I’m so angry, I’m such a coward – so much so that I really deserve to have to suffer for it. Vilde moves to Bristol to take a year off after high school. She leaves behind everything she has in Norway – including her boyfriend Markus. In Bristol she is drawn into the environment of the brutal martial art Krav Maga, and meets the strange, manipulative Fiona. This acquaintanceship comes to have fateful consequences, leading Vilde into a corner from which she cannot extricate herself.
An extremely sharp and well-written novel about trying to live with oneself and all one’s lopsidedness
About the author Heidi Sævareid is a Norwegian author, translator and literary critic. Sævareid has a master in Nordic Literature from the University of Oslo. She received the Department of Culture’s Debut Prize in 2013 and has twice been nominated for the Brage Prize. She lives in Bristol.
CONTEMPORARY // ORIGINAL TITLE: SLAGSIDE // 272 PAGES
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YOUNG ADULTS CONTEMPORARY
In the Game Von Hirsch Powerful and topical novel for young readers
I’m Amalie. For a long time I wanted to die. That phase is fortunately over. From now on, I’m a new person, and the new Amalie only has one thought in her mind – revenge.
Amalie is 18 years old when she is the victim of one of the so-called ‘grey-zone assaults’ at a party where alcohol is involved and the perpetrator is among one’s acquaintances. The pain and the shame are all-consuming, and it doesn’t take long before she has lost everything she loves. Gradually, however, her pain turns into aggression, and soon rage is the sole remaining emotion. Amalie makes her decision. She is out for revenge, and does not intend to stop until those who hurt her would themselves wish that they were dead. In the Game is a novel that portrays the effect a sexual assault can have on a person’s life. It is a book about loss, pain and anger. But since life is often what happens to you while you are preoccupied planning it, it is also a book about nearness and love, and about knowledge, togetherness and solidarity.
About the authors Kristin von Hirsch is a photographer and author. She lives in Oslo. Pia von Hirsch is a psychiatrist. She lives in Oslo.
CONTEMPORARY // ORIGINAL TITLE: MED PÅ LEKEN // 416 PAGES
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