On Wednesday, May 11th at 3 p.m. Meg will visit Boekhandel van Rossum, Amsterdam
Meg Rosoff, the highly esteemed author of Young Adult novels such as How I Live Now, Just in Case, and The Bride’s Farewell, has just been awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the most prestigious oeuvre prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. On Wednesday, May 11th at 3 p.m. Meg will visit Boekhandel van Rossum to discuss her newly translated teen book, Picture Me Gone (Mij niet gezien), as well as her first adult novel Jonathan Unleashed, a hugely funny look at a quirky young man struggling to make it in his first job in New York City. In her work questions of body, identity, and gender, the confusions of falling in love, and the desire and sexuality of the young are addressed with clever humor.
Meg is an inspirational speaker who encourages young people to seek a path in life which is not necessarily the one laid out for them by the adult world.
If you plan to attend the event on May 11th[/button]If you plan to attend the event on May 11th, please email us at winkel@boekhandelvanrossum or call 020 4707077.
Another very special event is the visit of holocaust survivor Eva Schloss to The Netherlands where she has been invited to meet the Dutch King in Amsterdam for the May 4th memorial day celebrations. Eva Schloss is a step-daughter of Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank. She has written about her experiences during World War II in a book for children called The Promise and for adults in After Auschwitz. She will speak at international schools in early May.
In The Secret Chord, the latest book by Pulitizer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks (People of the Book), King David, the shepherd boy who slew the giant Goliath and became the unifier of the 12 tribes, is the central figure. The Secret Chord is a passionate reinterpretation of the Books of Samuel, where David is God’s anointed, warlord, minstrel, sensualist, trickster, covenanted friend. The prophet and scribe, Natan, reviews David’s life with a view to bequeathing to posterity a full record: “Not just the deeds. The man.”
Growing older is no one’s cup of tea but Cathleen Schine (The Three Weissmans) has taken a wry look at intergenerational views on an aging mother in They may not mean to but they do. Joy Bergman is not slipping into old age with the quiet grace her adult children would prefer. She won’t take their advice, and she won’t take an
antidepressant. This is a new type of coming-of-age book about the intrusion of old age into three generations of family life. Warm and very funny!
The International Man Booker Prize has now been combined with The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the winner of the 2016 award will be announced on 16 May. One of the candidates is the Indonesian author Eka Kurniawan, whose novel Man Tiger has been widely praised for its colourful and richly textured depiction of village life. Anwar Sadat, a charming womanizer and failed artist, has been murdered by the young Margio, a skilled hunter whose sweet personality belies the fact that he has “something inside him”. That something is a white tiger. A lyrical and arresting book with an innovative structure. Another tip from the International Man Booker Prize is the lovely novella by Robert Seethaler, A Whole Life.
The Singapore based thriller author Shamini Flint is visiting international schools in the Low Lands in April to talk about her Inspector Singh series. So I picked up her most recent book, Inspector Singh Investigates: A Frightfully English Execution, a tale tackling religion, terrorism, and a number of strands straight out of today’s headlines. Singh and his wife are terrific characters and the books are a delight to read if you are looking for a new twist on the traditional genre.
Beth Johnson is the owner of Boekhandel Van Rossum (Beethovenstraat 32 in Amsterdam). Beth writes about and sells a wide range of Dutch and English books for children, young adults and mature readers.
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