12 year old Joel lives with his father in the cold northern part of Sweden. At night he often sneaks out of his father's house to look for a lonely dog he has seen from his window. On the bridge across the icy river he starts a secret society and has adventures. But one night he discovers that his father's bed is also empty and will have to come terms with his father's new-found love. The harsh reality of Joel's world comes vividly to life and leaves the reader spellbound.



Joel will soon be twelve, and he thinks nothing's going on in the small community where he lives. But he's wrong there. One day, a Miracle happens to him. He's very nearly run over by a bus, but is miraculously unhurt. Now, what do you do when a Miracle has come your way? Shouldn't you show gratitude somehow? Surely a good deed of some sort is in order. But how? A humorous, wise,and understanding portrait of a boy about to leave childhood behind him, this is an independent sequel to the award-winning and much-praised A Bridge to the Stars.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–8—Being run over by a bus and living to tell about it is the impetus that pushes young Joel Gustafson do a good deed. Only it doesn't turn out to be as easy as it seems. Anguished by the feeling that he needs to atone for his miraculous escape, he goes from friend to friend looking for ideas about just what his good deed should be. He settles on helping his friend Gertrud find a husband, which is a tall task since she is decidedly eccentric and missing a nose. Joel runs into many roadblocks while trying to enact his plan, testing both his determination and resourcefulness. Fans of Mankell's A Bridge to the Stars (Delacorte, 2007) will enjoy the reunion with Joel, his father, Sara, and Gertrud No-Nose. Others might be confused by larger-than-life characters in a very simple plot. They might also scratch their heads at the setting—a small town in Northern Sweden in 1957. Also, some of the translations seem more British than American, which could be confusing. This book will not appeal to a broad audience.—Nicki Clausen-Grace, Carillon Elementary School, Oviedo, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.



Joel is growing up. He is getting interested in girls. Just look at his New Year's resolutions: to see a naked lady, to toughen himself up so that he can live to be a hundred, and to see the sea. They all look pretty impossible for a motherless boy in Northern Sweden. Especially as his sailor dad is keen to drown his sadness in drink, and all the local matrons are narrowly watching the pair of them. And then he saves old Simon from a frozen death in the woods, and Joel becomes a local hero.



Now that he's getting older, Joel Gustafson has a lot to consider. His birthday is next month. He'll be fifteen, and he can't stop thinking about the new liberties that come with being fifteen: he'll be allowed to ride a moped, and he'll no longer need to sneak into the cinema to see an adults-only film. And maybe his father will finally agree to leave their small Swedish town and the two of them will become sailors—something Joel has always dreamed of.

Joel's life takes a turn, but nothing like he had anticipated. Joel and his father are unexpectedly faced with an aspect of their past and emotional wounds resurface. Can their relationship survive this complex situation, and the very different ways in which they respond?