First you go crazy and then a butterfly
First you go crazy and then a butterfly (Dutch original title: Hotel de grote L ) is a book for children and young people by the Dutch writer Sjoerd Kuyper . The novel was published by Lemniscaa in 2014 and in 2015 the German translation by Eva Schweikart was published by Gabriel Verlag, which belongs to Thienemann-Esslinger Verlag GmbH.
First you go crazy and then a butterfly tells the story of a father and his four children who, without his knowledge, take over the management of the family hotel after being in the hospital due to a heart attack. The book's themes are family, first love, growing up, and gender differences wrapped in a fun, chaotic, and wacky story.
content
The story is told from the point of view of the 13-year-old son Kos, who keeps a speech diary to tell his deceased mother all that has happened. This story is supplemented by comments from Kos's friend Isabel, to whom he gave the diary to listen to.
The family owns a hotel on the beach on the North Sea , which the father has run alone since the mother's death. Since their father does not want them to help out in the hotel, the children have little idea about hotel work until the father suffers a heart attack and has to spend two weeks in the hospital.
As it turns out, however, the hotel is almost broke. 7,000 euros in debt have already accumulated. Since the insurance company does not provide them with a representative to manage the hotel while their father is away, the siblings decide to take over the management of the hotel themselves during his absence. But running a hotel is not as easy as expected. Kos tries his hand at being a waiter and his 9-year-old sister Pel behind the bar, but it quickly ends in chaos. Due to the dissatisfaction with the service, most of the guests leave without further ado, and Kos and his sisters are in despair because they only have a few days to pay off the debt.
Kos older sister Briek is therefore supposed to take part in a beauty contest, which is worth 5000 euros. But since she suffers from lovesickness, it falls to Kos to take her place. Isabel, who Kos has been in love with for a long time, is also a candidate. Disguised as a girl, he makes it to the finals. In addition, he also manages to get closer to Isabel, because so far this has been anything but positive and he still has not dared to confess his love to her. His soccer test match is also successful and he is offered an offer to play at Ajax Amsterdam .
But at the final of the contest, which takes place in the hotel of Kos family, everything goes wrong. At first they have no drinks and have to improvise, then Isabel recognizes Kos under the make-up and wig and exposes him in front of everyone else because she feels ridiculed by him.
Isabel wins the competition and then apologizes to Kos for her behavior. She feels guilty and offers to lend him the profit so that the family can pay off their debts. It finally comes to the long-awaited first kiss of the two. The book ends with Kos' father finally coming back from the hospital the same evening and everyone partying at the post-party celebration of the beauty pageant.
characters
Kos
Kos is 13 years old and the protagonist of the story. From his point of view, the event is described because he keeps a speech diary in which he tells his mother about all events. This is supplemented by Isabel's remark that he gave the diary to listen to and that she would like to write a book from it. Kos is the only son, next to 3 sisters who he thinks are crazy and a passionate soccer player. He has a lot of imagination and is a good liar who also likes to think up stories that explain his father's absence or other things.
Libbie
Libbie is 19 years old and Kos’s oldest sister. In love with one of the hotel's regulars, who has returned their love throughout history. Doing her A-levels at the time of the action.
Briek
Briek is 15 years old. She is rebellious and wears a lot of makeup and piercings. Briek falls in love with a young soccer player from Tuvalu.
Pel
Pel is 9 years old and the smallest sister. She has a very cheerful and bright manner and is happy to be able to help in the hotel, which often ends in chaos.
father
The father of the family has a heart attack during a football game in Kos and is then in hospital for two weeks. He's been taking care of the hotel on his own since his mother's death and doesn't want the children to help him there. In his opinion, children should enjoy their youth and not work.
mother
The mother of the family died of cancer three years ago. Everyone loved her very much and Kos's father started drinking and smoking a lot after her death.
Isabel
Isabel goes to school with Kos and is in love with him. Since Kos and Isabel are both very shy, they only find out at the end of the book that their feelings are mutual.