Minus Me - Softcover

Røssland, Ingelin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780746946 ISBN 13: 9781780746944

Publisher: Rock the Boat, 2015

Synopsis

As compelling as The Lovely Bones and as memorable as Before I Fall, Minus Me raises thought-provoking questions about love and death

It’s not always easy to become the person you want to be.

When Linda discovers that she has a life-threatening heart condition, she refuses to be wrapped in cotton wool. Determined to experience everything a thirteen-year-old girl should, she starts to work her way through a list of all the things she and her best friend wish to do: have a first kiss, go to a pop concert, travel without her parents... But when a strange and mysterious boy called Zak appears, Linda’s life takes an unexpected turn – suddenly she is experiencing things she never dreamed possible, and every moment is precious.

Minus Me is a gripping, addictive novel – written with heart-stopping emotional honesty – from one of Norway’s most acclaimed young adult writers.

About this title

About the Author

Ingelin Røssland is an award-winning Norwegian author and journalist. Her
books have won numerous awards and have been translated into several
languages. Her fourth book, Handgranateple, was listed in the 2008 IBBY Honours
List. She lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Deborah Dawkin was born in London in 1961. She worked in the theatre and in marketing before becoming a literary translator. In 2009 she completed an MA in Social and Cultural History.

Reviews

Gr 6 Up—When riding the tram one winter night, young Norwegian teen Linda feels a pain around her heart and can't breathe, just as she sees a mysterious boy leaning against a lamp post. Later, when she is competing at a diving meet, she sees the same boy and when she makes a spectacular dive, her heart stops. She is revived, but the doctors tell her that her only hope is a heart transplant, and that she can never do anything stressful or physically demanding. Her parents are understandably protective, and Linda chafes against all the restrictions. She decides to compile a bucket list of everything she would like to do in her life, such as having a first kiss, going to parties, traveling without her parents, and climbing into Trondheim Cathedral, but when she attempts to complete items on the list, things don't always turn out the way she expects. And the mysterious boy, whose name is Zak, keeps turning up and making her question her choices. Who is Zak, and why does he know so much about her? The prose in this Norwegian import occasionally seems a bit stilted. However, the story is moving, and Linda is a realistic 13-year-old, complete with flaws. Her reaction to her diagnosis is believable: She is angry about her illness and often cruel to her family and friends, though she is remorseful afterward. VERDICT Give this one to fans of Gabrielle Zevin's Elsewhere (Farrar, 2005).—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

Edition details

• Publisher: Rock the Boat
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1780746946
• ISBN 13: 9781780746944
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288