Do Fish Sleep?

Some people die when they’re very old, and some in single digits. Only one thing’s for certain: none of us escape it. A fact and absurdity not lost on this winning ten-year-old.

Sick since even before Jette can remember, her brother Emil now has died. The feelings that losing him evoke in her are huge and confusing. Most simply, it feels as though a dark raincloud has descended over her family. And then there's the ridiculous fact that nobody seems to know what happens after you die, and yet adults often talk as if they do. Told in the first-person voice of a wry, observant 10-year-old girl, Do Fish Sleep? by Jens Raschke is an honest, darkly funny look into loss, memory, and the search for answers.

Originally performed as a one-girl play, Do Fish Sleep? was a breakout success at the box office, and received both the 2012 Mülheimer Children’s Theater Prize and the 2014 MDR Children’s Radio Play Prize. Do Fish Sleep? has been a best-seller in Germany since publication and has been translated into several languages.

Jens Raschke, a well-known German author and dramaturge was born in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1970. His work has received warm recognition and numerous awards.
Jens Rassmus was born in Kiel, Germany, in 1967. He is a draftsman, illustrator, and author. He studied at the College of Applied Sciences in Hamburg and at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, Scotland. He currently lives with his family in Kiel.
Belinda Cooper is an adjunct professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, where she has taught courses on human rights, international and transitional justice, and women’s rights. She has been a translator of German-language books and articles for over 25 years, including works on law, history, philosophy and politics. Cooper holds a law degree from Yale.