Femtiofem meter under ytan Fifty-five Meters Below the Surface
The house across the yard is about to be demolished, but something is not right. Inside, a curtain suddenly flutters, one Bengt Gustav has never seen before. He enters the house even though he isn’t supposed to, and on the second floor he finds a door marked “1984.” It becomes the first in a series of time-travels, where Bengt Gustav is given the opportunity to fix everything that has gone wrong for his father through the years, all the things his father blames his alcoholism on. Only, things never get any better.
The only calm place left to Bengt Gustav is the water. Lowering himself into the bathtub, he thinks about Guillaume Néry, who for a long time held the world record in freediving. In the water, Bengt Gustav sees his lifeboat from below, the one he is in all by himself. The lifeboat that will save him when his father goes off the rails.
Bengt Gustav finally realizes that he has to let more people onto his lifeboat, right now. That will be the only way he and his father can find a way forward.
Reviews
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“A serious and beautiful story about difficult subjects, alcohol, loneliness, vulnerability. And hope, friendship, and love. Very poetically and lovely depicted. /…/ I really liked this beautiful book.”
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“Fifty-five Meters Below the Surface is a linguistically clever, humoristically sensitive, and thought provoking book for middle graders. /…/ There are serious themes and heavy emotions, but at the same time an extraordinary warmth and love, depicted in a first-person narrative. Palmkvist once again shows that he fully trusts children’s capability to independently read, interpret, feel, and think.”
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“A lovely story about the love between kids and parents. Despite its heavy subject matter the book offers humoristic elements.”
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“The touching final scene offers a perfect mix of cozy and fun, with a wacky twist.”
- Author
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Conny Palmkvist
- Published
- 2024
- Genre
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- Children's
- Pages
- 180
- Reading material
Swedish edition
- Rights sold
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Netherlands, Kluitman
Sweden, Bonnier Carlsen
