Coming of age (13)
1.
Before the Queen Falls Asleep by Huzama Habayeb EN
KuwaitDescription:
Born a girl to parents who expected a boy, Jihad grows up treated like the eldest son, wearing boy's clothing and sharing the financial burden of head of the household with her father. Now middle-aged, each night Jihad tells her daughter a story from her life. As Malika prepares to leave home to attend university abroad, her mother revisits the past of their Palestinian family, tenderly describing their life in exile in Kuwait and her own experiences of love and loss as she grows up. Huzama Habayeb weaves a richly observed and affectionate portrait of a Palestinian family displaced from their ... continue
2.
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton EN
AustraliaDescription:
An utterly wonderful novel of love, crime, magic, fate and coming of age, set in Brisbane's violent working class suburban fringe - from one of Australia's most exciting new writers. Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way - not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer. But Eli's life is about to... continue
3.
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak EN
Description:
Loved THE BOOK THIEF? take a look at this! Ten years in the making the epic new novel from the acclaimed, prize-winning, bestselling author of THE BOOK THIEF Here is a story told inside out and back to front: The five Dunbar brothers are living with their menagerie of animals in the perfect chaos of a house without grownups. Today, the father who walked out on them long ago is about to walk right back in. And so the life of Clay, the quiet one with a harrowing secret, is about to change forever. From a grandfather, whose passion for the ancient Greeks still lights up their lives, to a mother a... continue
4.
Die Möglichkeit von Glück by Anne Rabe DE
GermanyDescription:
In der DDR geboren, im wiedervereinigten Deutschland aufgewachsen. Als die Mauer fällt, ist Stine gerade einmal drei Jahre alt. Doch die Familie ist tief verstrickt. In ein System, von dem sie nicht lassen kann, und in den Glauben, das richtige Leben gelebt zu haben. Bestechend klar und kühn erzählt Anne Rabe von einer Generation, deren Herkunft eine Leerstelle ist.
Stine kommt Mitte der 80er Jahre in einer Kleinstadt an der ostdeutschen Ostsee zur Welt. Sie ist ein Kind der Wende. Um den Systemwechsel in der DDR zu begreifen, ist sie zu jung, doch die vielschichtigen ideologis... continue
5.
JapanDescription:
"Shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. From the bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs and international literary sensation Mieko Kawakami, a sharp and illuminating novel about the impact of violence and the power of solidarity. A bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands o... continue
6.
Julius : Roman by Christian Zehnder DE
Country: Europe / 
Switzerland
Switzerland
Description:
Über Abschied und Aufbruch, Freundschaft und Liebe "Julius" ist die Geschichte eines jungen Mannes, der hinaus ins Leben tritt. Und es ist die Geschichte einer wunderbaren Freundschaft zwischen Julius und Martin. Es ist auch die tragische Liebesgeschichte zwischen Julius und Jadwiga und die nur vermeintlich geglückte Liebesgeschichte zwischen Julius und Caroline. Julius ist ein zeitgenössischer, zugleich aber unzeitgemässer Romantiker, der von der Idylle seines bisherigen Lebens Abschied nimmt. Christian Zehnder erzählt ebenso dicht wie poetisch. Er hat einen kleinen, höchst feinen Bildungsrom... continue
7.
Little Brother : A Refugee's Odyssey by Ibrahima Balde, Amets Arzallus Antia EN
GuineaDescription:
Based on the author's own life, this heartbreaking novel about an African migrant takes you inside the refugee crisis—for readers of The Lost Children's Archive and The Girl with the Louding Voice. Ibrahima is still a boy when his father dies, but as the eldest son he must leave their home village in the Guinean countryside in search of work to support his family. Eventually apprenticed to a trucker in the capital, he learns that his younger brother has dropped out of school and fled to Libya to pursue the dream of finding work in Europe. Leaving behind everything, Ibrahima sets off with the a... continue
8.
Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi EN
ChinaDescription:
Ninth Building is a fascinating collection of vignettes drawn from Zou Jingzhi's experience growing up during the Cultural Revolution, first as a boy in Beijing and then as a teenager exiled to the countryside. Zou poetically captures a side of the Cultural Revolution that is less talked about--the sheer tedium and waste of young life, as well as the gallows humor that accompanies such desperate situations. Jeremy Tiang's enthralling translation of this important work of fiction was awarded a PEN/Heim Grant.
9.
Regrettably, I Am About to Cause Trouble by Amie McNee EN
Country: Europe / 
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
1535, Oxfordshire. Lady Maude Shaftsberry has it all sorted. She will marry the well-connected lord, ascend the ranks of the Tudor court, and be mother to a small battalion of boys. But Maude has a secret that she carries everywhere: a birthmark that stretches over her stomach and between her legs. Is it a mark of fertility? Did her mother rub her pregnant belly too vigorously on the full moon? Or is it the sign of a witch? Her new husband is certain it's the latter. Maude, faced with annulment and the nunnery, must make her own way. The witches in town are the only ones who will give her refu... continue
10.
The Journey to the East : A Novel by Hermann Hesse EN
Description:
In simple, mesmersizing prose, Hesse tells of a journey both geographic and spiritual, as various historical figures travel together, encountering everything from Noah's Ark to Don Quixote.