My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Product Information

Milk and Sugar?’ the girl asks, pouring some coffee into a plastic mug. Britt-Marie doesn’t judge anyone. Far from it. But who would behave like that? A plastic mug! Are we at war?”

For the fastidious Britt-Marie, this new world of noisy children, muddy floors, and a roommate who is a rat (literally), is a hard adjustment. And she finds herself doing things she never would have believed she would do, and befriending and being befriended by people she would never have associated with in the past. And then she has to make a choice....

Review Tags

Elsa’s love of Wikipedia is hilarious at times, but it’s her fondness for Harry Potter books that was so telling. That she related to those characters, is a testament to how stories and books can offer relief and comfort, as well as influence and teach. Creating fairy tale-metaphors for little Elsa, was her grandmother's way of teaching the hard realities of life in story form to the little girl without friends. Nobody understood this bright child, not even the teachers and headmaster at school, where she was constantly bullied. Her busy parents did not know what was happening to her.

Britt-Marie is a character I will remember for a long time to come and am so happy I was able to meet her and experience her awakening and personal growth. I hope we can touch base with her again someday!! I mention make believe, and at times this book ventures into the realm of magical realism. Usually my experience with magical realism is a positive one, but I did not care for it much here. I think the reason might be that it frequently reminded me of Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which I didn't care for at all. So, if you are a fan of that book, you may enjoy this one, too.I get what it was going for. And it’s admirable. It’s supposed to be all imagination-y, and isn’t-childhood-cool, and family is important and let’s all love each other and smile. That is the reason why passion is worth something, not for what it gives us but for what it demands we risk. Our dignity. The puzzlement of others and their condescending, shaking heads”

Among Elsa's neighbours are eccentric chatterboxes and drunken workaholics, weird hounds and mysterious lurkers. Her mother is her punch-bag over teen issues (if Elsa can be called a teen that is) and her Dad is her word collector who can stand everything except a grammatically incorrect sentence. Well, mostly. I want a job because I actually don’t think it’s very edifying to disturb the neighbours with bad smells. I want someone to know I’m here.” And so begins Elsa's adventure, part quest, part treasure hunt, part superhero mission, Granny's letter leads Elsa first to the door of a wurse, and then The Monster (also known as Wolfheart), another letter leads her to the Sea-Witch and yet another much later to the Princess of Miploris. With each letter, offering apologies and regrets, Elsa unravels the truth about the fairy tales that form the foundation of the Land-of-Almost-Awake, and the secrets of her grandmother's exceptional life. Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

LATEST POSTS

Elsa is a seven-year-old girl and is learning about the life of the people around her. At home, there is a constant buzz of sound and arguing, as Elsa’s parents are filing for a divorce. Instead of being at home, she enjoys spending time with her grandmother and listening to the stories she tells her and the life she has lived. She has to learn to fend for herself when her grandmother suddenly dies, leaving behind a bunch of letters for her old friends that Elsa has to deliver. Grandmother I am not going to say anything else about the plot or the characters as this one is best going in cold if at all possible. I wouldn’t even read the blurb if you haven’t already. Let the story come to you. Props to the artist of the cover and to whoever came up with the title—both are perfect.

Her arrival creates a bit of a stir in the town. Nearly every other business has been closed down - the post office, mechanics, supermarket etc. The one remaining business serves as everything in one - selling anything from pizza and coffee to window cleaner and car parts. Grandma created different kingdoms in the Land-of-Almost-Awake: Miploris. That’s where all the sorrow is stored. It means “I mourn.”Elsa’s mother grew up in a nontraditional family environment. Do you think this influenced her parenting style with Elsa? In what ways? Britt-Marie is a very strange character. She has some obsessive traits, particularly regarding her cleaning methods and her rules on manners. She does take a while to get used to, but once you do, we find she is a wonderful character with a huge heart. As she befriends the locals, and becomes the captain of the children's football team, she is embedded in Borg, and they couldn't imagine life without her. However, she does manage to find temporary work at a recreation center, that is about to be shut down, in the small hamlet of ‘Borg’. This job, the town, and its residents will slowly draw Britt-Marie out of her shell, and will enrich her life via a string of wild adventures and through the game of soccer, a sport she initially resented and despised. Britt-Marie can’t stand mess. A disorganized cutlery drawer ranks high on her list of unforgivable sins. She is not one to judge others—no matter how ill-mannered, unkempt, or morally suspect they might be. It’s just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention. But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes. Elsa is nearly eight years old. Her parents have both divorced and remarried, she is bullied mercilessly at school for her inability to conform and her best friend is her eccentric grandmother. When her grandmother dies she leaves Elsa with a "quest" which opens old wounds and digs up long buried secrets.