The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg has been awarded the Runeberg Junior Prize. The book has marked Malin Klingenberg’s debut in the fantasy genre.
Wonderful news for our children’s list: The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg has won the Runeberg Junior Prize. This is the second Runeberg Prize for Klingenberg, already awarded for The Fantastic Alfredo.
The award is special for the fact that the winner is voted by children readers themselves.
The preliminary jury have chosen the book stating:
“[The Sisters of the Desert by Malin] Klingenberg may be to blame if children are groggy in the morning, because it is difficult to put the book away once one has come into the adventures of sisters Saba and Sarina. The Sisters of the Desert contains all the ingredients of an epic fantasy: friendship, family, supernatural powers, and the fight between good and evil.“
The Sisters of the Desert is the first instalment in Malin Klingenberg‘s new fantasy trilogy, The Chronicles of Gibat. The Sisters of the Desert follows Sarina and Saba, two sisters whose father is the leader of a wandering desert clan where one day children start disappearing. Afraid they’ll be next and suspecting their father may be involved, the two girls try to sneak away and meet another tribe, whose leader claims to have known their mother. The members of the other tribe believe in magic and claim that their mother, too, had magical powers. Could it be that their father has been hiding from them even more than they thought? And can the sisters stand up for what’s right and reveal the secrets from their past?
The Sisters of the Desert is a beautiful story of adventure, magic, friendship, and sisterly love in a world where some adults are ruthless and children are left to fend for themselves. The book is illustrated by Eeva Nikunen and the Finnish edition is translated from Swedish by Outi Menna.
Malin Klingenberg is one of Finland’s most prominent Swedish-speaking authors. Her extensive production, ranging from picture books all the way to YA, has been loved, read, and translated into many languages all over the world. The Sisters of the Desert marks her fantasy debut, proving she can successfully add one more genre to her impressively polyhedric production. Her works are published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms.
The Runeberg Prize is a prestigious literary prize named after the Finnish national poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg. It is one of the most important literary awards in Finland, second only to Finlandia. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, is given out in two categories: fiction and, since 2017, children’s books.
Warmest congratulations to the author!