One Hundred Days at Home
By Maria Sann Matilda Gyllenberg
Film rights optioned!
As the Christmas holidays comes to an end, eleven-year-old Nike realises she can’t go back to school. The staring gazes and loud noises of her classmates are simply too much for her to handle, not to mention the strong, overwhelming smell in the school cafeteria that almost makes her want to vomit. A darkness comes rolling in, preventing Nike from doing what she wants most – to be at school just like everyone else.
Then town’s indoor swimming pool burns down, and Nike suddenly has a lot on her plate. With her best friend Mia they are drawn into an exciting and rather scary mystery that they must solve all by themselves. Fortunately, Mia is the bravest person Nike knows, she dares to face both the police and the unpleasant school janitor. As friends come closer to finding the culprit, Nike must step in, and overcome her greatest fears.
One Hundred Days Home is a fast-paced detective mystery that touches on important subjects such as mental illness and focuses on the main circles of a pre-teen: the close surroundings, school and friends. The story emphasizes how important it is to be understood and seen by the adults around you.
The book is illustrated in black and white by Maria Sann.
Theatre adaptations based on the book, in both Swedish and Finnish, were praised by the press.
Publishing information
Rights sold
- German
- Italian
Reviews
"Whether Gyllenberg flirts with the tickling mystery genre or creates a hurting, distant father relationship between the lines, she shows that she can write for children, but without being too obvious. Everything for a group of readers whom both critics and juries often forget about. It’s well done, a tour de force for children’s literature indeed."
"With a colorful and often humorous language, Matilda Gyllenberg captures the inner darkness that can affect a child. And at the same time shines light on a phenomenon that teachers have long witnessed. And it's all spiced up with a bit of adventure. Maria Sann's quirky illustrations also follow the reader along the way."
"Matilda Gyllenberg has written an important book about a growing social problem."
"Matilda Gyllenberg's children's novel One Hundred Days at Home, together with Maria Sann's illustrations, becomes a lovable and touching book about an eleven-year-old who refuses to go to school."
"Matilda Gyllenberg already showed evidence of her ability to build moods and psychological mysteries in her debut Breathless Home (Det lungsjuka huset)). This time the protagonist is significantly younger, the language suitably wild and playful. Gyllenberg lets Nike's way of thinking in color and form shine though in the text. Nike's anxiety becomes an octopus that spreads its tentacles in the body and gushes out over the pages in tastefully effective illustrations by Maria Sann."
