Elina Penner – "Migrant Mom"
The thesis of her non-fiction book "Migrant Mom" is conveniently stated by Elina Penner (here's our interview with her) in the blurb: "I believe a certain group of non-migrant parents makes it unnecessarily difficult for themselves." Building on the "Instamom" generation, the author reflects on her own motherhood as a Mennonite Plautdietch German – yet without becoming too personal and thus losing identification potential. On the contrary: Her rapid, often angry, consistently humorous tirade offers "Migrant Moms" both resonance space while holding up a mirror to privileged white West Germans.
By vividly depicting her own family life, Penner highlights prejudices and class differences: It’s about the superpower of "cousins", children with "soccer player hair", and bathroom conversations with rappers just as much as it is about intergenerational traumas of refugees. Anyone who has never heard the term "food shame" should read this book. And those who unfortunately know it too well should read it even more.
Elina Penner lives with her family in her Westphalian hometown after stints in Bavaria, Berlin, and the USA. "Migrant Mom" has been published by Aufbau Verlag and has 208 pages.
Ronja von Rönne – "Despite"
Have you ever kept a diary of defiance? No? Then it’s about time – at least that’s what Ronja von Rönne thinks, who in her entertaining essay frees defiance from the pubescent "dirty corner." In her vivid and easily accessible essay, the author explores facets of defiance by linking the feeling (or better: the attitude) with both personal experiences and historical events and religious beliefs.
The framework is the story of her best friend suffering from diabetes, who has to have a leg amputated due to his defiant refusal of medication. In between, many "stubborn heads" illustrate the pros and cons, the productive as well as destructive power of defiance. For instance, she contrasts Eve’s bite into the apple or Rosa Parks’ act of defiance by staying seated on the bus with the "defiance party" AfD.
And von Rönne herself belongs to the defiant ones: Traditionally humorous and simultaneously tender, she recounts wild Porsche rides, complicated love, and the act of continuing to write – despite various shitstorms. An ode to an ambiguous feeling with depth, charm, and wit.
The essay has been published by dtv and has 112 pages.
Gabrielle Zevin - "Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow"
A creative novel about a creative industry: In "Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow," Gabrielle Zevin tells the story of two young people fighting for their passion.
As children, Sam and Sadie meet in the hospital. Only little Sadie can cheer up the sick Sam – Sadie and Mario Kart. Their love for gaming becomes the essence of their friendship: Years later, when they coincidentally meet again as computer scientists and game designers in Massachusetts, they decide to develop video games together.
However, despite their rapid success, their company "Unfair Games" repeatedly encounters resistance: Not only the patriarchy of the 90s, mocked ideas, and flopped games contribute to this. Their friendship is also not immune to the fast-paced scene.
Zevin tells this imaginative industry with equal imagination and love. Vivid descriptions of clever video games captivate just as much as the rollercoaster ride of this extraordinary friendship. A novel that invites even (or especially) video game haters into an original and maximally creative universe and wipes the "nerdy" image off the gaming scene.
The German edition of the novel has been published by Eichborn Verlag and has 560 pages.
