Best wishes, Zebra

By Nadja Sumanen

A seemingly well-to-do Iiris is sixteen and she has everything going for her, she does well in high-school and is effortless in ballet. Behind the polished façade is a dysfunctional family and lot of upset. When everything gets too much, cutting herself makes Iris feel better, for that moment. Iris’s therapist suggest she should start writing down her feelings and find a pen pal. The correspondence with with Poetigirl will help Iris to find new angles to her life, quite literally through the lens of her father’s old camera.
Iris will learn that perfection is not everything.

Sumanen uses the same devices as in her debut novel Rambo, with dark humour and reassuring story-telling Sumanen guides her reader through the pain and anger.

Publishing information

About the author

Nadja Sumanen (b. 1975) is an occupational therapist, a psychotherapist and a mother of two who likes to wonder about life with children, young people, and families.Nadja Sumanen’s writing career took off to a flying start in 2015. Her manuscript won the Otava Publishing Company’s YA novel competition and was followed by the publication of her debut novel Rambo which was awarded the 2015 Finlandia Junior Prize. The book was also adapted into a play for the Finnish National Theatre.Sumanen loves spending time with her family at their cabin and values sincerity, food prepared with love, and cycling on forest roads.