You and You and You - Hardcover

Per Nilsson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1932425195 ISBN 13: 9781932425192

Publisher: Front Street, 2005

Synopsis

Young Anon, who marches to the beat of a different drummer in galoshes to protect himself from radiation, touches the lives of all around him, resulting in disillusionment, loss, love, and more than a few surprises.

About this title

About the Author

Per Nilsson was born in Mälmo in 1954. Today he lives in Sölvesborg with his four children. He trained as a mathematics and music teacher. For many years he worked part-time in a school and part-time as an author. Today he is a full-time author. He sees his books as letters in which he carries on conversations with young adults about life and death, about hope and belief in the future, about roles we play, the world we live in and about love. His literary strength lies in his use of new motives and unexpected ways of thinking. He has written about twenty books, many of which have won awards. Heart's Delight is the first of Mr. Nilsson's books to be published in the U.S. It won first prize in Rabén & Sjögren's 1992 awards competition for best love story, the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturepreis in 1997, and the Dutch "Silver Kiss" in 1999. Mr. Nilsson also writes the script for a family series on Swedish television.

Reviews

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–Swedish magical realism comes alive in this mature, sometimes graphically sexual and violent, ultimately breathtaking and inspiring tale of three unconnected, deeply cerebral misfits whose complicated paths cross in a life-altering way in the end. How a 12-year-old who always wears blue galoshes and thinks that his father is a god, a beautiful but lonely young woman, and a dreamy teen who is obsessed with death become acquainted and have a huge impact on one another is at the heart of this quirky and lovely novel. There's a heady mix of light and dark themes, gritty language and whimsical behavior, disturbing moments and transcendent beauty. Many of the older YA readers to whom this book is directed will likely come away with a feeling of being somehow transformed or at least being given much to ponder. This is an outstanding offering that will stand proudly next to such YA literary gems as Aidan Chambers's Postcards from No Man's Land (Dutton, 2002), Kate Morgenroth's Jude (S & S, 2004), Stephen Chbosky's ThePerks of Being a Wallflower (MTV, 1999), and Garret Freymann-Weyr's My Heartbeat (Houghton, 2002).–Jeff Katz, School of Library, Archival, & Information Studies, University of British Columbia
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Gr. 9-12. Anon, 12, believes his absent father is a god; Nils, 20, is obsessed by death and burial; beautiful 17-year-old Zarah is having second thoughts about her intensely physical relationship with Victor. The lives of these three different young people are at the heart of Swedish author Nilsson's carefully constructed plot. Writing in a third-person omniscient point of view (even engaging his own characters in conversation), Nilsson alternates the narrative among the three characters, gradually revealing connections that expand our understanding of each individual and the world they inhabit. The language is strong, and the sex is described graphically, but the way in which the three come together and the resulting, deeply satisfying consequence arise organically from the well-realized characters and invite speculation about large issues of the human condition: love, death, resurrection, and the very meaning of life. The inclusion of several Christ figures is never intrusive or didactic; rather, it adds texture and weight to this thought-provoking, beautifully written story. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Front Street
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1932425195
• ISBN 13: 9781932425192
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 301