That Summer With Jente
Publisher: Luitingh-Sijthoff
That Summer With Jente has won the Vlag en Wimpel Award, Griffeljury (2020)
Enne Koens’ books have been translated into six languages and have sold over 35.000 copies in the Netherlands
Translation rights sold to Germany (Gerstenberg Verlag) & Italy (Camelozampa)
A poignant story of the friendship between two very different girls
‘Are you afraid?’, she asks.
I would like to say that I am not afraid. I’m really not. She is afraid. But I can’t manage to utter a single word.
Against her will, Marie moves to a new neighbourhood. She leaves behind Zoë, her favourite neighbour, best friend and almost sister, but luckily she makes a new friend on her first day: Jente. During the summer they go swimming, have sleepovers, spy on boys and grow up. With Jente, every day is an adventure, but sometimes Jente suddenly gets angry and is rude to Marie. As the summer progresses, Marie starts to feel like something is off. Can you always trust others, as was the case with Zoë, or is this friendship different? A story about friendship between girls in the process of discovering themselves and the world around them.
Praise:
‘Koens evokes the summer atmosphere magnificently, written in pure and entertaining language, and depicts dynamics that are recognisable in real-life children […] Impressively, Koens builds up a subcutaneous tension that leads to an ominous scene on a railway bridge, to which the prologue already hinted.’ – Trouw
‘Die zomer met Jente is a beautiful book about friendship and how complicated it can be sometimes. It’s beautifully written, with all sorts of things lurking between the sentences.’ – Kidsweek
