Reasonably Lucky Moments

New term, new school and new friends. Emanuel can finally be a whole new person and start afresh. But who is he? And perhaps more importantly, who does he want to be? With Emanuel Kent, Åsa Asptjärn created a brilliant anti-hero, the Swedish response to Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole classics.

It is the last day of summer. Emanuel Kent and his friend Tore are lying on their backs in the grass and assess the situation before the start of school. They agree that they need a strategy, for they now have the chance to start anew and become the person they want to be.

And Emanuel does his absolute best, he reckons, trying to find the right clothes and to pick up on the latest trends, such as this thing of coming to class with coffee in a disposable carton mug. But things still don’t go that well.

There are some strong personalities in Emanuel’s class, such as Frank, who can act as a leader better than any other. And there is also Kaisa. Kaisa who can give Emanuel real moments of happiness.

But soon Emanuel finds himself in a storm of confusion once again, with an unknown jazz musician, an LGBT demonstration as well as a letter he never wrote.