Description
By (author) Ingemundsen, Linni
Short /annotation
If 14-year-old Malin was God for a day, she wouldn”t change much. Dad would still yell; her brother Sigve would still get in trouble, and Mom would still think wine is good for the heart. She”d still be friends with Hanna, even if they met shoplifting. Because stuff”s okay, mostly. And if He could fix the world, wouldn”t God have done it already?
If I got to be God for one day, I”d like to say I”d end world hunger and create world peace. But I wouldn”t. Because if God could fix the big stuff, he”d have done it already.Malin knows she can”t fix the big stuff in her life. Instead she watches from the sidelines, as her dad yells, her brother lies and her mum falls apart. At least after she meets Hanna she has a friend to help her. Because being Malin is complicated – learning how to kiss, what to wear to prom, and what to do when you upset the prettiest, meanest girl in school.It”s tough fitting in when you”re different. But what if it”s the world that”s weird, not you?A beautiful, funny and honest coming-of-age story that never pretends life is perfect.
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[A] little gem of a book…
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A lovely lilting style and pace which skips alongside Malin and her dysfunctional family as their lives are unpicked through loss and pain.
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Coming-of-age narratives about dysfunctional families and mean girls at school are common, but this is exceptional.
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Ingemundsen”s debut features a beguiling heroine at that most tricky stage of metamorphosis, from child to adult. […] The darkening plot is dramatic without veering into sensationalism, and full of humour and pathos.
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Offer[s] solidarity and gentle encouragement to those who find engagement with the world difficult.
Biographical note
Linni Ingemundsen is from Norway, though she has lived in three different countries and will never be done exploring the world. She has worked as a dishwasher in Australia, a volunteer journalist in Tanzania and has had approximately 2.5 near-death experiences. Still, what truly inspires her writing is her background growing up in a village on the south-western coast of Norway. She does not know how to draw but is somehow a freelance cartoonist. Some of her favourite things in life include chocolate, free Wi-Fi and her yellow typewriter.
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