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Erlings, Fridrik
3 Reviews
(2)
YA
In this Icelandic import we enter a world of spare darkness, with a landscape of lava rock and steep cliffs, that is steeped in stories of tragedy. Two boys meet in a foster home on a farm. Henry is deeply anxious, borderline illiterate, and incapable of human connection. Ollie, much younger, is a kind of fey visionary. A deeply engaging, anti-sentimental story.
Reviewer: Sarah Ellis
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2014
(4)
YA
In this Icelandic import, thirteen-year-old Josh has a lot on his mind--his father has been gone for a year, his mom works non-stop, his older girl cousin moves in, he's teased, and he's in love with classmate Clara--but his secret seaside haven helps him think. Josh's voice is artificial and some issues are raised then unexamined, but Erlings's portrayal of adolescent boyhood is often funny.
(4)
4-6
Twelve-year-old Benjamin and his friends, who pretend to be knights, take on a real quest to help an elderly neighbor. Childhood rivalries escalate, leading to a tragic conclusion. Alternating viewpoints (Benjamin's first-person perspective and an omniscient third-person narrator) are distancing, but readers will be drawn into the boys' real and imagined adventures.
Reviewer: Beth L. Meister
3 reviews
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