Plaster of Paris or How I Repaired the World in a Single Day
Gypsum or How I Repaired the World in a Single Day is a children's and youth novel by the Dutch author Anna Woltz , which was first published in 2015 by the Dutch Querido Verlag . The German-language edition was published in 2016 as broadcast by Andrea Kluitmann at Carlsen Verlag .
content
In the novel, the first-person narrator experiences a change in her attitude towards love and a conflict with her parents within a day in the hospital.
action
The twelve-year-old Fitz (short for Felicia) is angry at her parents, especially at her mother, after their separation, and has lost her belief in love. She and her younger sister Bente are supposed to spend time in their father's new apartment for the first time after their parents split up. Fitz is alone in the apartment and uses a permanent marker to write the words "MAMA SHOULD DIE" on her face. While Bente is sitting on her father's luggage rack, a serious bicycle fall occurs in which one of her fingertips is severed from her finger, which is why she has to go to the hospital. Fitz accompanies her father and Bente there, but has to wear a tiger mask so that no one can read the writing on her face.
While Bente is being treated in the hospital, his mother appears. At the mother's request, Fitz takes off the mask, then she is allowed to put it back on. Then Fitz wanders aimlessly through the hospital and meets Adam, whose brother is a premature baby in a corresponding ward. Adam and a nurse help Fitz remove the writing from her face. Fitz and Adam also get to know Primula, who has had a heart valve operation and has not been able to participate in “normal” life for six months. So that she does not have to return to the parents' treatment room too early, Fitz pretends on the phone that she has fallen and broken her arm. For an alibi, Primula and Adam put her arm in plaster .
When Fitz later returns to her family, her father suddenly collapses because his spleen ruptured in the accident. During the father's operation, Fitz sees that her mother is worried, even though she no longer loves her father. There is a reconciliation between Fitz and her mother. Fitz found the belief in love again and realized that statistically two thirds of all married couples stay together and the separation of their parents unfortunately belonged to the other third. She also admits to herself that she fell in love with Adam.
characters
- Felicia, called Fitz, the twelve-year-old protagonist
- Bente, her nine year old sister
- Joost, the father of the two girls
- S., the mother of the two girls and ex-wife of Joost
- Adam, the boy Fitz befriends and falls in love with
- Primula, a girl Fitz befriends
- Douwe, the male nurse who takes care of Bente
- Doctor Sarah, doctor who treats Bente
- Yasmine, the premature infant nurse
- Dr. de Gooier, doctor in the premature baby unit
expenditure
Dutch original edition
- Anna Woltz: Gips, Querido, Amsterdam 2015, ISBN 978-9-045-12386-8 . (Hardback edition)
German language edition
- Anna Woltz: Gypsum or How I Repaired the World in a Single Day, Carlsen Verlag , Hamburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-551-55676-9 . (Hardback edition)
- Anna Woltz: Gips or How I Repaired the World in a Single Day, Carlsen Verlag, Hamburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-551-31754-4 . (Paperback)
Carlsen offers teaching aids for the novel .
Audio book
- Anna Woltz: Plaster of Paris or How I Repaired the World in a Single Day, Audiobook Hamburg , Hamburg 2019 (Read by Tabea Hilbert )
reception
Anja Robert wrote in Die Zeit : “The prelude to Anna Woltz's new children's book is reminiscent of the old dramaturgy advice: 'Start with an earthquake and gradually increase.' For 175 pages, the Dutch writer tells of a crazy day in the hospital - with a pace that is only surpassed by the fury of her main character. "
Awards
| price | year | won / nominated |
|---|---|---|
| Gouden stylus | 2016 | won |
| Zilveren stylus | 2016 | won |
| Lynx of the month | November 2016 | won |
| Catholic children's and youth book award | 2017 | won |
| Silver feather | 2017 | won |
| German Youth Literature Prize | 2017 | nominated |
Adaptations
theatre
The novel was staged in the children's and youth theater in Schauburg under the director Theo Fransz . The premiere took place on October 20, 2017.
Mini television series
In 2018, a series of the same name based on the novel with 19 episodes was broadcast on the Dutch TV channel Zapp .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anja Robert: "Gips": Mercilessly angry . In: Die Zeit 48/2016, November 17, 2016, accessed on April 21, 2020.
- ↑ LUCHS Prize November goes to Anna Woltz Title "Plaster of Paris or How I Repaired the World in a Single Day" , press release from Carlsen Verlag , November 22, 2016, accessed on April 21, 2020.
- ↑ Catholic Children's and Young People's Book Prize: Award ceremony 2017 . German Bishops' Conference , accessed on April 21, 2020.
- ↑ Youth book "Plaster of paris or how I repaired the world in a single day" by Anna Woltz with the Silver Pen of the German Association of Women Doctors 2017 . Press release, German Medical Association , June 21, 2017, accessed on April 21, 2020.
- ↑ Plaster of Paris or How I Repaired the World in a Single Day . German Youth Literature Prize , accessed on April 21, 2020.
- ↑ Manfred Jahnke: A day in the hospital . In: Die Deutsche Bühne , October 20, 2017, accessed on April 20, 2020.
- ↑ Gips in the Internet Movie Database , accessed on April 20, 2020.