New Swedish Books, Autumn 2017 1
63 Autumn 2017 In the Middle of the Rose With alm
ost a hundred books in the bag, Martin Widmark is an experienced creator of mysteries. He’s well-versed in the art of portioning out clues and creating cliffhangers at just the right moment in his stories. Here he has created, with his practised hand, a real page-turner mystery, set at the beginning of the 20th century. The focus is on twelve-year-old Stefan, alone with his dad after his mum’s presumed suicide. Right from the word go there are plenty of unanswered questions. Why did the mum not want to live anymore? She who always seemed so happy? Something isn’t right here! Ola Skogäng’s beautiful illustrations, in a comic book style, really help the story along, and the book is a kind of hybrid of graphic novel and novel. In a dark and snow-laden Stockholm, Stefan ventures out to find out what happened to his mum. It quickly becomes very dangerous for Stefan, and very exciting for the reader. In the Middle of the Rose is clever, evocative and accessible. Martin Widmark (text) b. 1961 Ola Skogäng (ill) b. 1974 In the Middle of the Rose Publisher Bonnier Carlsen www.bonniercarlsen.se Literary Prizes Martin Widmark has won the ‘bokjuryns pris’ in the 7-9 age category twelve years in a row. Rights Bonnier Rights mathilde.coffy@bonnierrights.se Martin Widmark Selected Works Huset som vaknade illustrated by Emilia Dziubak 2017 Picture book Talmannens hämnd together with Petter Lidbeck 2017 Chapter book Ulfberths svärd illustrated by Mats Vänehem 2017 Chapter book Ola Skogäng Selected Works Mumiens blod 2008 Graphic novel Om pyttesmå partiklar written by Jo Salmson 2013 Non-fiction Photo: Thron Ullberg