"The best stories are never completely realistic and never entirely made-up,"
Granny "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry"

This book was a true joy to read. Would that every child have a protector like Granny! It combined the humanity of "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" with the whimsy and mystery of "Jeremy Fink and The Meaning of Life." I laughed out loud so many times, got teary-eyed at others, and felt genuine compassion for the characters throughout the book.

Elsa is "almost eight" and is most likely a genius. She lives in and apartment building with her mother and stepfather, and her granny lives in the apartment next door. Granny is Elsa's only friend. Elsa is teased and bullied mercilessly at school for being different ("Only different people change the world," Granny used to say, "No one normal has ever changed a crapping thing.") To help Elsa deal with the bullying, Granny weaves fairy tales from magical lands, each having a moral to help Elsa develop a coping strategy.

Granny will stop at nothing to help Elsa through life:

"I didn't want you to remember this day because [they took your scarf]. So I thought instead you could remember it as the day your Granny broke into a zoo--"
"And escaped from a hospital," Elsa says with a grin.
"And escaped from a hospital," says Granny with a grin.
"And threw turds at the police."
...
"If you can't get rid of the bad, you have to top it up with more goody stuff."
"That's not a word."
"I know."
"Thanks Granny," says Elsa and leans her head against her arm.

Sadly, when we meet Granny she is already quite ill and dies shortly thereafter, but not before leaving Elsa with a quest which will have her learn more about herself, her mother, and each of their neighbors. She'll even learn more about Granny's past, which Granny never shared with her.

Each of the characters in the book is very well-developed, and so human -- foibles and all.

In the book's acknowledgements author Frederick Backman notes "Most of all thanks to you who read." I can only offer thanks to the author himself. Please continue writing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.



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I really enjoyed this book. I chose it as A Man Called Ove is one of my favourite books ever; this one was very good but not as outstanding as his first novel.

Seven year old Elsa's grandmother is constantly getting into scrapes. From wandering around publicly with her housecoat on and nothing underneath, to throwing animal dung at police officers, she is not the best role model for Elsa, but definitely the most loveable. Elsa's grandmother immerses her in a make-believe world of fairy tales from which Elsa learns life lessons; she never learns enough lessons to handle the uncontrollable grief that assails her when her granny quite suddenly dies.

As in A Man Called Ove, Backman makes grief one of the themes of the novel, and handles it masterfully; I have often wondered if he was a bereavement counsellor before he became a best-selling author. Backman also strikes up unlikely friendships between the characters, and animosities that end when people really listen to each other.

It's a really good book and I recommend it warmly. ( )

This should be 8 stars.
I cannot exaggerate how much I love this book. I have been recommending it to everyone I can. I have also struggled to find a concise way to review it that does it justice.

Warm, sharp, intelligent, well-written, layered, fast-paced, thoughtful, delightful...
The book is told from the perspective (in non-omniscient 3rd person) of Elsa, a girl who will be turning eight shortly, so refers to herself as "an almost-eight". She is very bright, and has a fantastic, lively, and hilarious relationship with her grandmother (who in Adult Eyes is likely in her late 50s-early 60s).

Things are revealed in an organic way such that little bits of info earlier in the book become key pieces in understanding more profound truths later on. The matter-of-fact observations by Elsa of her housemates resonate with the reader at a deeper level than an almost-eight can appreciate.

I might suggest not reading this book on public transit. It is likely you will miss your stop (repeatedly).

***
micro-Spoiler:
I might suggest not reading chapter 31-32 in public. There could be tears. ( )

A different almost 8 year old girl's grandmother dies and she spends the next few days on a treasure hunt getting to know those who live in the house around her, making friends along the way. Backman explores what it means to lose loved ones, and how everyone around has their own past and stories that you'd never suspect without asking. Backman once again demonstrates his ability to write flawed, human characters into his stories.

Favorite Quotes behind spoiler tag: "People who think slowly always accuse quick thinkers of concentration problems, idiots can't understand that non-idiots are done with a thought and already moving onto the next before they have."

"When mom and dad did a cleaning, mom wrote a minute by minute breakdown of the cleaning schedule, and then dad would get sort of caught up with descaling the coffee percolator for two and a half hours"

"When a child is born in Miamus, all the families friends come to the cot and tell stories and pull faces and dance and sing and make jokes and the first one to make the child laugh becomes the Laugher. They are personally responsible for making it happen as often and as loudly and in as many situations as possible. Particularly those that cause embarrassment to the parents." ( )

This is the most heart felt, real life interpretation mixed with a child's fairy tale point of view. I laughed and I most definitely cried like I haven't in forever. Elsa captivated my heart and soul. She made me feel her every hurt, frustrated, anger and sorrow moment. You go on an extraordinary journey that will leave you looking at the world in a a new way. ( )