Book Description
for When Mischief Came to Town by Katrina Nannestad
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
In 1911, 10-year-old Inge arrives to live with her grandmother on a remote Danish island. She is bereft—her mother has died—but her grief doesn’t diminish her spirited nature. Inge doesn’t know her grandmother well—she and her mother lived in the city far away. But it gradually becomes clear that beneath her grandmother’s seemingly stern exterior is a woman of great caring and warmth, along with clues her grandmother as a child was very much like Inge, with a knack for getting into trouble without trying. A boy named Klaus, smart and resilient like Inge, who is carrying his own burden, further eases Inge’s transition, especially at school. At home, when Inge’s suddenly overwhelmed with sadness, her grandmother is there. Buoyant, funny, and also deeply moving, Katrina Nannestad’s marvelous chapter book features a wonderful cast of secondary characters. A number of these are older people in the community whose personalities are slowly revealed, and whose lives are brightened by Inge and Klaus. (Ages 7–11)
CCBC Choices 2016. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2016. Used with permission.