Novemberkatzen (Novembercats)

1986

Ilse has dreams and wishes and desires just like other children, but less chances to fulfil them. She lives her life between resignation, putting up with her situation and fighting against it, and inspite of everything her social frame gives support and protection.

 

Kratzer im Lack (Scratched Veneer)

1992

Mrs Kronawitter sees 14-year-old Herbert scratching up cars with his knife, but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she takes a new look at her own life, honest with herself for the first time. This helps her understand Herbert and the narrowness and confusion of his closed-in, seemingly so well ordered world.

 

Nickel Vogelpfeifer (Nickel’s Story)

1994

In this poignant children’s book Mirjam Pressler writes about family problems – especially about how nine-year-old Nickel does something he shouldn’t because he’s unhappy, and how his brother helps him. It is the story of a little boy who finds himself.

 

Wenn das Glück kommt, muss man ihm einen Stuhl hinstellen (When Good Fortune Comes, You Have to Offer it a Chair)

1994

The favourite pastime of 12-year-old Halinka, who lives in an orphanage, is to spend time alone in her wonderful hiding place up in the attic. There she writes special things in her book of thoughts, such as “When happiness comes, you have to offer it a chair”.

 

Ich sehne mich so (The Story of Anne Frank)

1998

A committed and sensitive analysis of the character of Anne Frank, with her problems, talents and dreams, an informative biography, which supplements the famous diary.

 

Malka Mai

2001

Is it possible that a seven-year-old girl, abandoned and pursued, manages to survive alone? Luckily this was once the case: Malka Mai lives in Israel today. Mirjam Pressler has written this novel based on her memories. It is a moving odyssey of a child, and at the same time a vivid entreaty – that the bond between mother and child cannot be broken.

 

Für Isabel war es Liebe (Mixed Emotions)

2002

Full of emotions and authentic details, Mirjam Pressler describes how 17-year-old Isabel discovers her physical and emotional identity – during the time she also has to cope with her mother’s acute case of cancer. A novel about first love and early suffering, about cutting the ties to her parents and how encouraging art can be.

 

Die Zeit der schlafenden Hunde (Let Sleeping Dogs Lie)

2003

Johanna discovers a dark side of her family history: her grandfather profited, as many Germans did, from the expropriation of Jewish property. A new spectacular novel by Mirjam Pressler about three generations of a family and their various ways of dealing with (their) German history.

 

Golem stiller Bruder (Golem, Quiet Brother)

2007

Prague around 1600 - according to the legend, Rabbi Loew created an artificial human out of mud – the Golem, who was to protect the Jews in the ghetto from harm. The 15-year-old narrator of the story, Jankel, develops a special relationship to the Golem that ends dramatically. A great historic novel that deals with human impudence, which also draws on the fascination of the awe of eerie circumstances. At the same time, it is an introduction to the Jewish religion, which is rich in legends and myths.

 

Nathans Kinder (Nathan’s Children)

2009

Nathan the Wise, Lessing’s plea for religious tolerance, is one of the most-performed German dramas. It now appears as a thrilling novel focused on this current topic. Clever, far-sighted and brilliant – a novel that provokes in a contemporary way, but not without hope for a more peaceful coexistance of religions. An extraordinary masterpiece.