THE STRONGER (DE STARKARE) by Inger Frimansson

HOT SWEDISH YOUNG ADULT NOVEL!

The Stronger is a touching, thrilling and suspenseful novel about two cousins newly arrived in Sweden, and about how hard it sometimes can be to fit in, to know where to lay your loyalties, and to stand up for what you think is right. Even if it means being bullied around with.

Jak and Aster arrive in Sweden on a truck. The summer night is bright and the refugee camp where they arrive, they are given food and new clothes. But to become a part of everyday life in the new country is not easy. The large family’s life in the small apartment on Bergsgatan is difficult and crowded. At school the teacher’s nagging them about the importance of quickly learning Swedish well. But it is not how they live or what happens at school that hoovers like a black cloud over Jak and Aster. It is Keller and his gang - the stronger. The ones who persecute and violate, the ones that make life to a living hell for Jak and Aster. One day Jak stands up for his cause, against Keller - something that will prove to have terrible consequences…

Inger Frimansson won the Swedish Crime Writer Academy's prize Spårhunden, Best Youth Detective Novel of the Year (2009) for this title. She has received many awards, but this one she was extra proud of. The fact that she manages to reach out to youngsters is important to her.