Books from Finland - A literary journal of writing from and about Finland.

Sylvi Kepposen pitkä päivä
[Sylvia Prank’s long day]
Kuvitus [Ill. by]: Marika Maijala
Helsinki: Otava, 2008. 33 p., ill.
ISBN 978-951-1-22373-3
€ 17, hardback

The long, narrow shape of this picture book is justified, as it literally gives the reader a clear perspective on its illustrations. Sylvi is a little girl whose legs one day grow so long that she is able to leap into space. Sylvi becomes a media phenomenon and the object of universal astonishment – until her legs return roughly to their former size. The book, by Juha Virta (born 1970) and his partner Marika Maijala (born 1974), owes much to nonsense writing and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, but the story and the pictures are an amazingly well-balanced combination, expressing humour, unceremonious wonder and a childlike ability to derive pleasure from moments of absurdity.

Villapäät
[Woollyheads]
Helsinki: Tammi, 2008. 134 p.
ISBN 978-951-31-4397-8
€ 17, hardback

Amid the angst and tangled human relationships that seem to dominate juvenile books, Villapäät provides young readers with ideals and the clothes to go with them, but eschews a market-driven focus on the self. 15-year-old Timppa and his friends form a band, and soon The Woollyheads will be the star of a charity fundraising concert. The global crisis and selfless relief work acquire a human face when Timppa sees a video on the life of Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross – the only ‘trauma’ Timppa himself suffered as a child was caused by swallowing a Lego block. An important subsidiary role is played by a perceptive teacher who channels the youth into a beneficial, creative hobby. Esko-Pekka Tiitinen (born 1945) was awarded the 2008 Finlandia Junior Prize for Fiction for this book, his 16th.

Pähkinäpuinen lipas
[The walnut wood box]
Helsinki: Tammi, 2008. 205 p.
ISBN 978-951-31-3855-4
€ 17, hardback

In this vivid juvenile novel, third in the series set in the 17th century, there are surprising points of comparison with the lives of young people today. The three daughters of the healer Briita seek a place of their own in a small rural community after their mother’s death. The youngest, Anna, inherits her mother’s walnut wood box. Unlike her peers, Anna is able to read and write, and the old documents found in the box explain why Briita was a violent mother who sought to relieve the pain of her life with medicinal herbs; her daughters are finally able to understand and forgive her. Through her sympathetic main character, Mikkanen (born 1941) skilfully constructs the image, familiar from classical literature, of a young woman who attains success despite her lowly origins.

Brev till världens ände
[Letter to the ends of the earth]
Helsingfors: Söderströms, 2008, 184 p. .
ISBN 978-951-52-2566-5
€ 18, paperback

Kirje maan ääriin
Helsinki: Teos, 2008, 197 p.
Suomentanut [Translated into Finnish by] Tarja Teva
ISBN 978-951-851-180-2
€ 21, paperback

This story involves the identity crisis of two boys, a discussion of the human ecological footprint and the growing loss of a relationship with nature. Viktor and Jeppe have been friends since childhood until the mysterious Maira upsets the boys’ relationship. Annika Luther (born 1958) is not content to write a traditional triangle drama – instead she seasons it with Viktor’s betrayal, an act committed in a fit of jealousy that has unforeseeable consequences. The novel’s power lies in its ever-increasing tension, as the trust between the boys breaks down. The plotline is occasionally unconvincing, but at the heart of the novel is the fickle human mind, stripped of all its trappings. The book received the 2008 Topelius Prize.