Synopsis

Rights sold: Latvian, Hungarian, Polish

After his grandparents’ death, Morten is forced to live with his abusive alcoholic uncle in a lone cabin on the edge of a swamp. His mother is working abroad, trying to earn enough money for a down payment on an apartment. The boy has never met his father. Escaping to a nearby bog island to practice nature photography is Morten’s only chance for coping. On one of these trips, he meets a strange girl he’s never seen before in town. Emilie is pale, speaks in an unusual way, and appears to be totally unfamiliar with many regular things. Although Morten enjoys Emilie’s company and finds her easy to talk with, he still has a nagging desire to uncover the mysterious girl’s true identity.
-----------------------------------------------------
Reviews:

Morten’s story is tender and profound. Morten is akin in spirit to the mysterious bog where he spends
his evenings walking and pondering, seeking refuge from possible domestic violence. Doubting his own worth and the possibility of happiness, Morten is likely one of Reinaus’s most compelling and well crafted characters.

- Literary Diary, bookblog

The author deserves praise for addressing such heavy issues. It is deeply saddening to think of children left to their own devices, having almost no emotional support. Topics like domestic violence are far from easy read in children’s literature, yet the book’s events are easily transferable to the reader’s own time and place, making empathic feelings inevitable.

- Book of the month, children’s literature blog

Translations