Author Ellen Strömberg continues to charm Italian readers: she is attending the Démadé Festival in Livorno, Italy, where she will be interviewed by her translator Samanta Milton Knowles.
Ellen Strömberg’s August Prize winning novel We’ll Just Ride Past has been a success in Italy, where the book is out with Terre di Mezzo: the book was shortlisted for the prestigious Andersen Prize, and nominated for the Mare di Libri Prize.
We’ll Just Ride Past follows Manda and Malin, a duo of best friends in ninth grade. They are nicknamed The Bicycles as they cycle everywhere looking for fun and something to do in a small town where nothing ever happens. One day Malin develops a crush on a guy working at the local pizzeria, and a series on events – both fun and not so fun – begins to unfold. We’ll Just Ride Past is an accurate portrayal of a moment in life where it’s perfectly normal to change style and music taste every week and the world awaits.
Ellen Strömberg’s latest novel, This Is Literally Hell, has been receiving glowing reviews and catching the eye of critics and editors across multiple territories. This Is Literally Hell follows Ebba Blau, who is 12, almost 13, and has one school year to become cool before she has to leave her hometown as she and Mom are set to move away to live with Mom’s boyfriend. Ebba has decided she will have a movie-worthy makeover: she’ll become cooler, more popular, more stylish, master a morning routine, and get her first boyfriend while she still can. She sets out to become friends with the popular girls and get together with Romeo, the best-looking boy at art school, but how will bubbly, chatty, and awkward Ebba manage, given her tendency to embarrass herself and get drawn into white lies that grow bigger and bigger? This Is Literally Hell is Ebba’s diary, and it brims with drama, embarrassing stuff, and big feelings – but also a longing for friendship, love, and new beginnings.
Stay tuned!