You & You & You [Hardcover]

Per Nilsson (Author), Tara Chace (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

Anon gets teased mercilessly at school. Someone has been peeing on the toilets at school and he gets blamed for it. He's just a daydreaming kid, lost in his own world, and the teasing really doesn't bother him. He hardly notices it. He's more caught up in his daydreaming world about a girl named Sara that he doesn't know (but imagines in great detail) and about his father (who does not live with him). Zarah has more serious trouble. Her boyfriend, Victor, is turning out to be trouble, and a crisis. He spends a lot of time thinking about death and life. When Nils finds Zarah, his life takes on new meaning. In watching Anon be so lost in his daydreams, Nils rediscovers the happiness he knew as a daydreaming kid.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–Swedish magical realism comes alive in this mature, sometimes graphically sexual and violent, ultimately breathtaking and inspiring tale of three unconnected, deeply cerebral misfits whose complicated paths cross in a life-altering way in the end. How a 12-year-old who always wears blue galoshes and thinks that his father is a god, a beautiful but lonely young woman, and a dreamy teen who is obsessed with death become acquainted and have a huge impact on one another is at the heart of this quirky and lovely novel. There's a heady mix of light and dark themes, gritty language and whimsical behavior, disturbing moments and transcendent beauty. Many of the older YA readers to whom this book is directed will likely come away with a feeling of being somehow transformed or at least being given much to ponder. This is an outstanding offering that will stand proudly next to such YA literary gems as Aidan Chambers's Postcards from No Man's Land (Dutton, 2002), Kate Morgenroth's Jude (S & S, 2004), Stephen Chbosky's ThePerks of Being a Wallflower (MTV, 1999), and Garret Freymann-Weyr's My Heartbeat (Houghton, 2002).–Jeff Katz, School of Library, Archival, & Information Studies, University of British Columbia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. Anon, 12, believes his absent father is a god; Nils, 20, is obsessed by death and burial; beautiful 17-year-old Zarah is having second thoughts about her intensely physical relationship with Victor. The lives of these three different young people are at the heart of Swedish author Nilsson's carefully constructed plot. Writing in a third-person omniscient point of view (even engaging his own characters in conversation), Nilsson alternates the narrative among the three characters, gradually revealing connections that expand our understanding of each individual and the world they inhabit. The language is strong, and the sex is described graphically, but the way in which the three come together and the resulting, deeply satisfying consequence arise organically from the well-realized characters and invite speculation about large issues of the human condition: love, death, resurrection, and the very meaning of life. The inclusion of several Christ figures is never intrusive or didactic; rather, it adds texture and weight to this thought-provoking, beautifully written story. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 301 pages
• Publisher: Front Street Press (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932425195
• ISBN-13: 978-1932425192
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,388,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars completey fabulous!, September 5, 2005

By 

Nico Matisse "Maude" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You & You & You (Hardcover)

I absolutely loved this book. It was extremely enlightening and inspirational, each character with a purpose, for those who believe in bumping into lamp posts and having mirror twins,solving the mysteries of life and death, and excepting those mysteries with that 'ok i found it and im following it to the end, nothing is stopping me.' it was absurd without being unrealistic, and sensitive without being cheesy.Well written, beautiful characters, beautiful ending, this novel is perfection to people who live within their imaginations and are seeking encouragement and a dose of reality. This book isn't really for kids,it's more for teens and adults, and i recommend it whole heartedly. Plus it's set in sweden.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Would you spend the night in a coffin?!, May 18, 2005

By 

East of the Sun, West of the Moon - See all my reviews

This review is from: You & You & You (Hardcover)

This book was great! The three characters in this book are SO different from each other. But they're all so real. I feel like I know them. Zarah is totally beautiful, but she's very matter of fact about it. Her real problem is that her boyfriend is a hoodlum and he hits her. Oh, and she thinks a new (and female!) friend might be hitting on her. She has plenty of problems. But strangely she kind of has fewer problems than Nils. Which is weird since Nils doesn't really seem to have any concrete problems. Nils just feels kind of empty. He's obsessed with figuring out what it would feel like to be dead. And he pursues his curiosity to a creepy extent (with the help of his best friend). He even spends the night in a coffin! My favorite character is Anon though. His mom actually named him after her favorite poet, "Anon." No joke! He's the weirdest little kid, but somehow just so loveable. I actually laughed out loud when I was reading about some of his escapades.

The other great thing about this book is that it's Swedish and the Swedes are so comfortable talking about sex. They're not hung up on stuff the way so many Americans are. Especially my mom. She'd freak if she read some of the stuff Zarah does in this book!

I highly recommend this book. The characters are so vivid and the things that happen to them are so realistic but at the same time surprising. And funny. And serious.

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Keeps it Real!, December 2, 2009

By 

s.5 "spenceronehalf" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You & You & You (Hardcover)

The other reviewers are right: this is an excellent, vivid, and intense books. Young readers can handle it, I think, and it's very well written. Loved it!