Bubble (Bobla)

Awards

Shortlisted for the ARK’s best children’s book prize.

Abbie feels like a trapped slave. Everything she does, she feels she is forced into. Every morning she is forced to get up, she is forced to go to school, forced to study things she does not need, forced to live with the nickname Bubble, forced to swap whole milk with light milk, forced to take swim class, and forced to sing in the rotten Christmas choir. She is in the hands of someone else’s stupid rules, in a shitty town, in a shitty world.

After her worst school day ever, she finds a mysterious glass globe in the cemetery, with a blanket inside. The globe grows into a big bubble, big enough for her to walk in and out of it. It contains the key to the freedom she has wished for, for so long. And it can fly! Finally she can opt out! not care about everybody else and be completely at peace. Just her, and her old rag doll. Forever …

284 pages

Bubble is magical realism, based on a true fantasy, for everyone from ten to a hundred. A witty and serious thriller about freedom, boundaries, intimacy and responsibility.

With her debute trilogy The Raven Rings Siri Pettersen placed herself among the royalty of fantasy authors of all times. Her books have sold in thousands in Norway and are a big success on all markets it has so far been published. With Bubble Siri proves that she can also write for a younger audience.

Rights

Denmark: Gyldendal
Finland: Art House / Jalava
The Faroe Islands: Bókadeildin Føroya Læraraferlags
Germany: WooW Books
Latvia: Latvijas Mediji
Norway: Gyldendal
Poland: Rebis
Russia: Albus Corvus
Sweden: B. Wahlström

REVIEWS

“Bubble is brimming with of wise thoughts and feelings about belonging and is a must-read on the brink of young adulthood. […] Bubble has elements of magic, horror and good old-fashioned Norwegian realism. The protagonist is charmingly grumpy, and the book is filled with wise feelings and thoughts about security and belonging. And I’ll be darned if there isn’t a cozy christmas celebration thrown in as well. Bubble might well be this year’s christmas hit!”
VG / NO

“Bubble has many characteristic side characters and a message that is anything but subtle. And the lack of self-importance and correctness makes it feel like something very unique among the 2017 children’s books.”
Dagbladet / NO

“A bravura and wonderful book! A unique combination of magic and reality.”
Lubimyczytac / PL

“Pettersen has a perfect pitch and linguistic timing where humor and seriousness always go hand in hand. The Bubble is a wonderful Christmas story in the sprit of Dickens.”
Dagens Nyheter / SWE

“An adventure where Kine, when in the ball gets a hero status but, overall, it’s a more symbolic story about what happens when you just want to leave school and all bad things that you can’t escape from.”
Swedish Radio / SWE

”Siri Pettersen did it again. She has such an exhilarating way to write that I expected nothing else but a magnificent reading experience.”
The Owl’s Rumours / FI

”Bobla is a compelling and joyful young adult book I can recommend. This book makes you think as a good book always does.”
From reader to reader / FI

“It’s hard to read this book without thinking of Astrid Lindgren and Stephen King, and that is a compliment to the author. Pettersen posesses the ability of both to combine the supernatural with the natural, thus describing the vulnerability, loneliness and hopes of a young person. With Bubble, Siri Pettersen has written her way to the very peak of Norwegian YA writers. 5 out of 6 stars.”
Adresseavisen / NO

“Pettersen has the ability to combine the supernatural with the natural and through this describes the soreness, loneliness and hope for a young one
human being.”
For en bok / NO