Learning to Scream

by Beate Teresa Hanika
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This empowering book about a young girl learning how to get out of an abusive situation became the most talked-about teenage book in Germany last year.

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Synopsis

Malvina is thirteen-years-old. She and her best friend, Lizzy, have taken over an abandoned villa, raised a pirate flag and waged war on the boys from the local estate.This is Malvina’s story about last summer, but she has another story that’s intertwined, a story she’s ashamed of. She can’t quite tell it yet, not to anyone, not even to Lizzy, or her big brother Paul. But Granddad knows her secret, he says it’s just between them and no one else would understand. And then she meets a boy. A boy she can trust; a boy she thinks she could fall in love with. But first she needs to learn how to scream!

Editorial Reviews

"A book that gives courage. Courage to face the truth and speak it aloud. Clear, precise and poetic. " - Mirjam Pressler

"A courageous and heartbreaking book, written in the unbelievably light and poetic language of a thirteen year old." - Die Zeit

"Life-affirming and uplifting" - Wendy Cooling

"A sensitive portrait of girls between childhood and puberty." - Buch Tips

"This story of sexual abuse is an astonishing book which gives courage despite the depressing subject and is an appeal to parents and grownups to pay more attention to girls reaching puberty." - Literaturen

"One of the most perceptive books I've read in a long time . . . It should be compulsory reading for anyone who has anything to do with children." - Sue Magee, TheBookBag.co.uk

"It makes you desperate to reach into the pages, give her a shake and insist she tell someone. If it has that effect on even one young person with a similar dreadful secret, it will have earnt its keep." - Katy Guest, Independent on Sunday Books of the Year

"Hanika writes well and handles this subject adeptly. From the beginning the readers' sympathy and understanding are engaged in this ultimately uplifting story of triumph over evil. Recommended as a worthwhile addition to any secondary school library." - The School Librarian

"This is a dark tale indeed (but) her grim story is lifted above the 'misery' dimension by the author's light and occasionally even lyrical touch." - Books for Keeps

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