When I am Happiest
by Rose Lagercrantz, ill.
Eva ErikssonGecko Press NZ$20
This cheerful chapter novel for young readers is a sequel
to My Happy Life (2012) and My Heart is Laughing (2014) both
charming and funny stories about the irrepressible Dani and her best friend
Ella. Dani has almost finished the
school year, a period she thinks has been the happiest in her life. Suddenly
Dani’s happiness is threatened when her father is hospitalised after a serious
traffic accident. Her classmates are sympathetic and her grandparents are
caring but Dani finds it difficult to accept that her father might never
recover. Then several positive steps by those around her make it possible for
Dani to once again “feel a rush of happiness inside.”
Eva
Eriksson’s witty illustrations have the same feeling of reality as Rose
Lagercrantz’s words. The Dani trilogy is
both warm and realistic; this really is how young people feel and act. It is
also how young people find the joy of reading well-crafted fiction.
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