›The Extraordinary Book‹ is an award initiated in 2012 by the Young Program of the international literature festival berlin, which honors remarkable books for children, teenagers or young adults. The jury of the award is composed of the guests of the section of the respective festival edition, who each nominate one book. The exceptional books are exhibited each year in the Philipp Schaeffer Library and can be borrowed there after the end of the exhibition. From 5th-14th September 2024, this year’s ›Extraordinary Books‹ are showcased in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
These are the Extraordinary Books 2024
ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
»This coming-of-age novel captures the sweaty, exhausting feeling of a lonely, hot teenage summer and comforts the reader with linguistic gentleness, with its sincere description of what it is like to feel different from others, and two characters who look after each other with unabashed compassion.«
MIO, MIN MIO by Astrid Lindgren
»Out of all Astrid Lindgren’s magical books, MIO, MIN MIO was my favorite as a child. The first chapters particularly stick in my mind. I’m not sure why – and I’m not sure I should dig too deeply. After all, magic is magic.«
LE PETIT PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
»I love THE LITTLE PRINCE. I believe that once you imagine life, it takes on a new meaning, and from then on, everything before your eyes becomes different.«
FURIOUS THING by Jenny Downham
»Magnificent portrayal of a teenage girl raging against injustice.«
THE GIVING TREE by Shel Silverstein
»This seemingly simple book raises a multitude of questions about unconditional love, transmission of knowledge and values, as well as generosity – with a rare complexity!«
RUSTY BROWN by Chris Ware
»A compelling and moving story full of secrets, imagination, and a time twisting plot, about daring to face life, even when it is painful.«
ACHTNACHT by Sebastian Fitzek
»It is set in Berlin which makes it quite close and realistic for me. It is very captivating and gets more and more thrilling.«
– Yami Lee
BRAIDING SWEETGRAS by Robin Wall Kimmerer
»This book reminds us beautifully that humans are a part of nature, not separate from it. What we owe to the planet and the gifts we can receive from it. Kimmerer is able to write essays as a scientist that feel like poetry. I keep multiple copies to give out as gifts.«
– Kat Leyh
YELLOWFACE by Rebecca F. Kuang
»The book addresses many topics that are important to me in our modern world, for example voices that remain unheard.«
SENT I NOVEMBER by Tove Jansson
»A story that questions norms and identity, a realisation that we are all much more than we think.«
DIE SONNE, SO STRAHLEND UND SCHWARZ by Chantal-Fleur Sandjon
»Chantal-Fleur Sandjon wandert in ihrem Buch durch super viele Lyrikgenres, als sei dies ein Kinderspiel, entwickelt ihre Charaktere dabei tiefgründig und mit viel düsterem Humor und verwebt auf einzigartige Weise Sprach-Bilder ohne die üblichen Stereotypen. Unbedingt lesen! «
VOCÊ TEM A VIDA INTEIRA by Lucas Rocha
»A profound and moving book that sheds light on the queer experience in Brazil, and a story for young readers that discusses HIV without judgment or stigma.«
THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END by Adam Silvera
»This is a tragic, yet touching short love story that is beautifully written and evokes many emotions in the reader.«
THE MARROW THIEVES by Cherie Dimaline
»THE MARROW THIEVES is a book that changed the face of Indigenous literature in Canada. It is a bold, intelligent, and unflinching look at the traumatic history of Canada from the Indigenous perspective, seemlessly executed through the genre of dystopian fiction. It is simply one of the best books published in Canada over the last twenty years.«
DER ÜBERAUS STARKE WILLIBALD by Willi Fährmann
»The author grapples with Nazism, something beyond comprehension, in a story that centers around mice. It is a memorial to the past, for children, that prevents a forgetting of history. It is upsetting to read about Lillimaus being ostracized just because she is a mouse with
Albinism.«
CHILDREN OF THE QUICKSANDS by Efua Traoré
»An adventurous story that looks at the life of a young girl in Nigeria with all its ordinariness, but also with all its magic and interconnectedness – an enrichment for every bookshelf.«
L’ISOLA DI ARTURO by Elsa Morante
»A poignant bildungsroman able to explore the emotional and psychological growth of a boy and to capture the essence of adolescence and longing through the development of the most vibrant emotions: desire, love, disillusionment, and the loss of innocence.«
STRANDED! A MOSTLY TRUE STORY FROM ICELAND by Ævar Þór Benediktsson
»This beautifully illustrated book evokes the art of oral storytelling with its warm tone and amusing asides, keeping both readers and listeners captivated while the personal narrative expands to eventually include the very formation of the Earth.«
LE CITTÀ INVISIBILI by Italo Calvino
»Original, imaginative, poetic, and filled with something I too explore in my books for adults and children: a ‘thoughtful lightness.’«
HEST HEST TIGER TIGER by Mette Eike Neerlin
»A book about Honey who finds it hard to say no – she takes everybody else into consideration before herself and ends up in different unplanned situations, like joining a Chinese language class and visiting a terminal patient at a hospice. A humorous book with the rare combination of lightness and heaviness.«
THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexi
»A sad, funny, tragic, hilarious, moving, and wonderful coming-of-age story about a young Indigenous boy who leaves his tribal community to attend an all-white high school.«