Merjem
Merjem

Schmidt - cover
by
Jacoby & Stuart
August 2016 / 208pp
Children’s & Young Adults’
  • Selected by Litrix.de

This book is outside of the five-year window for guaranteed assistance with English language translation. We suggest getting in touch with the relevant funding body for an informal conversation about the possibility of support. Please refer to to our  recommendations page for books that are currently covered by our funding guarantee.

review

Eleven-year-old Linus makes an unusual discovery in the changing rooms at school: his classmate Merjem is hiding on top of a wardrobe. Merjem’s family have been deported to Albania, but she has managed to run away and now the police are looking for her. Merjem feels at home in Germany and wants to stay there. Linus and his friend Dana are determined to help her by bringing food and clothes, eager to find a solution so that Merjem can stay. But the school’s caretaker, Herr Karle, makes life difficult for them and seems to have something to hide himself. In the end, Merjem is allowed to remain with Linus and Dana’s families, and there is hope that her parents might return to Germany.

Merjem has all the ingredients of a classic children’s novel – friendship, adventure and, most importantly, solving a problem without the help or knowledge of adults. But it is also about a very current topic that children will be familiar with from their own classrooms. Schmidt’s style is direct and funny, and her protagonists are authentic and easy to relate to. This is a novel that both children and adults will enjoy.

press quotes

The author gives vivid life to the underlying tragedy by coupling it with an exciting tale that is part family saga, part school story, part thriller. – Litrix.de

Click here for the Litrix.de review and a sample translation

rights information

Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart

Contact: Maria Holtrop

Tel: +49 (0)30-47 37 47 920

Email: maria.holtrop@jacobystuart.de

www.jacobystuart.de


Jacoby & Stuart was founded in 2008 by Edmund Jacoby and his wife Nicola Stuart, both of whom have been in publishing for many successful years. The list consists of ambitious childrens books, both richly illustrated and wellwritten and outstanding novels as well as biographies for young readers.

translation assistance

Applications should be made to the Goethe-Institut.

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