Beartown (The Scandal)
ABOUT
THE BOOK
In a large Swedish forest, Beartown hides a dark secret . . .
Cut off from everywhere else it experiences the kind of isolation that tears people apart.
And each year more and more of the town is swallowed by the forest.
Then the town is offered a bright new future.
But it is all put in jeopardy by a single, brutal act.
It divides the town into those who think it should be hushed up and forgotten and those who’ll risk the future to see justice done.
Who will speak up?
Could you stand by and stay silent?
Or would you risk everything for justice?
Which side would you be on?
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Neil
Smith
Neil Smith is a Canadian writer and translator. His novel Boo, published in 2015, won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. Boo was also nominated for a Sunburst Award and the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award and was longlisted for the Prix des libraires du Québec.
Neil Smith is a Canadian writer and translator. His novel Boo, published in 2015, won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. Boo was also nominated for a Sunburst Award and the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award and was longlisted for the Prix des libraires du Québec.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
A simply stunning book. This is not just a story about hockey. It’s much, much more than that. This is Beartown, a town that’s down on its luck. Business is slow; times are hard and pretty much the only thing that unites the town is their love of ice hockey. But one night the star of the junior team commits a crime that impacts on everyone and the townsfolk have to decide where their loyalties lie. We meet the coaches and their wives and families, the players and their families and the bar owner and her clients. The writing is just amazing – sharp, sparse and beautiful. There were moments as a reader when I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. You feel the humanity and struggles of every character (yes each and every one because they are all an integral part of the story). The ending offers hope for the future that the town will move on and that in 10 years time people will recover and be stronger. Unmissable.