Foreign Rights 2012 | YOUNG adult books
content
140 x 210 mm | 224 pages 66,652 words paperback age group: 12+ Italian, German and French rights sold
I think it was love Kathleen Vereecken • An original historical novel in a delicate style • The protagonist integrates many philosophical and literary layers • A successful novel which has won the ‘Boekenleeuw’
In the 18th century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote influential books on education, but he brought his own 5 children to an orphanage. I think it was love tells the story of how the life of his son might have been. Leon grows up in an adoptive family in which only his new sister takes care of him. When she dies, he travels to Paris to discover literature, love and the identity of his father. In a sensitive and delicate style, Vereecken manages to enthral her readers. Leon is one of the most disarming protagonists youth literature has to offer. This cheeky, yet vulnerable survivor longs for love but rejects it at the same time. He holds on to life with an insatiable hunger for knowledge and stories. This original story has been very successful and has been awarded the ‘Boekenleeuw’.
We award a historical youth novel which uncovers the secrets of history and uses them to create an original and emotional story. We also applaud the novel’s psychological strength and its philosophical and literary layers, which never endanger the plot. – Jury report ‘Boekenleeuw’ Kathleen Vereecken has written several youth novels and is known for her beautiful, illustrative language. For her novel All colours grey, she was nominated for the ‘Gouden Uil’. She has also written Goose bumps on your skin and butterflies in your belly and The greenhouse effect or why does our earth warm up? For I think it was love, she won the ‘Boekenleeuw’.
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