Hard land
Book not yet available in English
Summary:
Missouri, 1985. 15-year-old Sam starts working at an old movie theater, ushering in a summer that will change everything. Between popcorn and flickering screens, he meets new friends who free him from the stagnation of the sleepy town of Grady and catapult him straight into adulthood. It is a summer that brings him his first love and his first loss, a summer full of adventure and pain, one full of fears and new dreams. A summer that, despite its dark sides, is a declaration of love to youth.
Edited by: ALEKI - Arbeitsstelle für Kinder- und Jugendmedienforschung
Comment:
Sam’s girlfriend Kirstie invents the term “euphancholia” to describe a state in which the euphoria of a happy moment is overshadowed by its looming transience, making one feel melancholic – a word that could not better describe this coming-of-age novel: Both playful and melancholic, Hard Land takes us back to a time of “99 Luftballons” and dreamy summer days, creating an atmosphere with its lively and witty characters that keeps us captivated by Grady and its 49 secrets until the very last page.