Swedish Books for Young Readers 1
Swedish Books for Young Readers 32 Jakob Wegelius
The Legend of Sally Jones, childrens’s fiction, 9-12 years, 2008, Bonnier Carlsen Rights: Bonnier Rights Our hero is a gorilla whose parents get killed by hunters. To avoid paying duty on the orphaned gorilla, her owner smuggles her out of the country dressed as a baby, with a passport issued for Sally Jones. In Istanbul Sally is sold to a very nice lady with shady plans for Sally! This is only the beginning of Sally’s adventures and journeys around the world. The Murderer’s Ape, children’s fiction, 9-12 years, 2014, Bonnier Carlsen Rights: Bonnier Rights The gorilla Sally Jones is engineer and her friend, the Chief, sailor on a small cargo boat. Their boat sinks and the Chief is falsely convicted of a murder. For Sally Jones this is the start of a long battle both for her own survival and for exonerating her friend. A story about a puzzling murder case and heinous crimes, but also of friendship, hope and forgiveness. Jakob Wegelius is an all-round author of books for children who not only writes but also masterfully illustrates and designs his stories. He studied literature and philosophy, and graduated from Konstfack/University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm in 1996. He now lives with his wife and two children and works as a graphic designer, illustrator and author. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Esperanza from 1999 received the Heffaklumpen Prize and was nominated for the August Prize and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. The Legend of Sally Jones received the prestigious August Prize in 2008. For The Murderer’s Ape, Jakob Wegelius was awarded the August Prize in 2014, The Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize in 2015 and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2017. The third part in this series, The False Rose, is published in 2020. Photo: Lena Sjöberg