Malin Persson Giolito - "In your hands"
The book follows the two friends Dogge and Billy and begins when they are 14 years old and Billy is shot to death in a playground.
It revolves around gang violence, class and young people's social vulnerability and the reader gets to take part in the story through different perspectives;
the two boys, the committed local police, the single mothers and the owner of the grocery store in the square.
- It is one of the truest books that has been written about Sweden today, says Maria Magnusson.
Thomas Korsgaard - "If anyone should come by"
The debut novel had a big impact when it was released in the author's home country Denmark 2017. It is about Toe who is twelve years old and grows up in the poor, Jutland countryside.
- An incredibly touching depiction of survival.
It is barren, angular and a bit childish but so incredibly tender, humorous and full of hope, says Maria Magnusson.
The book is the first part of a trilogy.
Karl-Ove Knausgård - "The Wolves From the Forest of Eternity"
In the 777-page novel, Norway's foremost author stars connect two stories.
One begins in 1986, the year of the Chernobyl disaster, the Challenger accident, the Palme murder and a Norwegian government crisis.
The second part takes place 30 years later in Russia when the biologist Alevtina goes to Samara with his son to celebrate his father's eightieth birthday.
- Both parts work with death and life in different ways and Karl-Ove Knausgård makes us understand that we can all be resurrected.
At least in symbolic form, says Maria Magnusson.