Mira and Martin

Anna Ehring

Mira and Martin often hang out together. They have a special place in the woods where they meet. But at school they hardly acknowledge one another.  Anna Ehring, the August-nominated author of Jam Sandwiches and Hard Life, is back with a warm and humorous book for middle-graders.

 

Mira lives with her mother, in a house close to the woods. Mira likes that and is happy. She enjoys her life at home and at school (for the most part). But there’s something tough, it is about finding and using the right words when people are around and not just stand quietly and look stupid. Like that time when Mira finally gets asked to hang out with some people at school and listen to their band repetitions. Martin plays the guitar in the band. There are emotions that overwhelm and complicate everything when Mira and Martin see each other.

And this thing about the pressure to have a best friend at school, it’s not exactly Mira’s thing … however hard she tries, it is difficult for her to always keep hanging out with the same person.

Expect identification, giggles and maybe some tears as we dive into Mira and her world. A world where friends, school life and overarching emotions are at the center.

 

New Swedish Books:

“Far from every fictional character leaves an imprint and takes on a life of their own. Mira in Anna Ehring’s Mira and Martin is an exception. This spring’s most skilful character study quickly jumps out from the page. Soon Mira has become a fully-fledged character, warts and all, and with charm and compassion. She stands with one foot in childhood, when you still build dens and hide under the bed when you’ve done something wrong, and with the other in her teens, when you’ve got a secret crush on the most popular guy at school. And it’s not easy. How do you learn the new rules to play by?

Who can you confide in when you’re too big to just run to your mummy? It’s always been difficult for Mira to fit in and navigate the social structures around her. But now it’s even more difficult. It’s so easy to be clumsy or get it wrong! And a lot is at stake.

This is an affectionate, everyday and honest depiction of eleven-year-old Mira. Both her and the book feel extraordinary and stay in your thoughts long after you’ve finished reading”.