Juliane Pickel Rattensommer
[Rat Summer]

The stunning debut novel “Krummer Hund” [Crooked Dog] by Juliane Pickel was awarded two major children’s book prizes in 2021— the Peter Härtling Prize and the “LUCHS des Jahres.” Daniel, the protagonist of the story, leads a very chaotic life, yet his inner life is even more chaotic. Apart from mourning over his dog, he also is grieving his father, who had disappeared when he was ten years old. To make matters worse, he feels as if he is a nerd and an outsider. “Crooked Dog” is a witty, laconic, and intelligently written novel that gets under your skin. The author’s eagerly awaited second young adult novel, entitled “Rattensommer” [Rat Summer], has finally been published this year.

The backdrop to the narrative is a “crazy hot” summer that stinks of rats and muck, but also of repressed traumas and conflicts that have been swept under the rug. The 15-year-old first-person narrator, Lou, can hardly bear the situation any longer: The death of her unborn older sister continues to poison the family atmosphere, even after so many years of mourning, and makes it nearly impossible for her to develop her own personality. Lou is stuck in the role of being the “small” substitute version of the “first” born Louise, and she feels as if her parents don’t really see her for herself. Lou’s best friend Sonny plans to take revenge on her mother’s killer, after he has been released from prison. To that end, she gets involved with a couple of bad guys and things get out of hand.

Serious themes form the backdrop to this summer vacation story, but the focus is on the intimate friendship between two girls who, despite their extreme differences in appearance and character, form “two halves of a whole.” The close bond between them needs few words; but that summer Lou falls in love with her best friend. Things get confusing: butterflies in the stomach, joy, and catastrophes all mixed together. After all the inevitable quarrels and fits of jealousy, the ensuing painful insights plus a dramatic showdown, Lou manages to stand on her own two feet and finally manages to separate herself from Sonny.

The motif of swimming has an important meaning within this context. Lou can't swim — literally and figuratively — she is unable to relax or live an easy and carefree life. A traumatic experience that she must overcome lies at the core of her inner conflict. Not only is this final scene downright thrilling, there is a tension that runs through the entire novel. And it has to do with the question of how Sonny's mother was killed, whether and how Sonny will take revenge on the “perpetrator,” and finally how the girls' friendship will develop. Moreover, there is a growing psychological tension, a shimmering insecurity that makes the whole story vibrate.

Lou is a sensitive and clever girl. While Daniel the spunky narrator in “Crooked Dog” was a rather easy-going protagonist, Juliane Pickel has chosen a very unique tone for Lou in “Rat Summer,” which sensitively reflects her situation and character. Lou subtly and expressively describes her own fears and feelings, as well as her parents' helpless strategies to escape from their grief. The story is intense, but never overloaded, fragile and simultaneously gripping. Sentences such as, “like arrows in a bow,” strike at the heart of the complex psychological relationships. And with a smattering of self-irony, the author avoids the trap of pathos or sentimentality.

Adolescents like Lou – or Daniel – can be found throughout Europe, indeed throughout the entire world. Young people growing up in the midst of psychologically or socially challenging circumstances, who must navigate their own path between painful and affirmative experiences. Once again, Juliane Pickel has distilled the complicated lives of teen-agers into a gripping, convincing and liberating story. With great ease she strikes a balance between heaviness and lightness, melancholy and expectations. Her sensual, sensitive language and unsentimental tone will be an exhilarating challenge for translators. And one thing is certain: this new voice and this new tone can also enrich other languages and literatures!