Kerstin, Life, and Death

Helena Hedlund & Katarina Strömgård

Kerstin’s favorite thing is to make Gunnar happy, and she knows that treasures makes him happy. Also strawberries, money, wolf pee, and gold makes him happy, but maybe the thing that makes him most happy of all are cats? Kerstin opens the door to the garage and shows him the box.
“Oh, wow!” says Gunnar, wild with joy. “Oh! This is my best day ever!”

Kerstin turns 8 years and almost everything goes wrong. Mom and dad never wake up and when they finally do Kerstin has wet her bed from waiting so long. Luckily, they believe her when she tells them it was their old cat, Kattegatt, who peed the bed. But there is something strange going on with Kattegatt, he is acting different. Kerstin’s best friend Gunnar is also acting strange. He has a friend visiting, Pavel, and it’s almost as if they’re in love. The only one who wants to be with Kerstin is grandpa. His skin is like bark because he has a disease that Kerstin can’t pronounce but for which he sells lottery tickets for. Kerstin bought one of the lottery tickets and all she won was a subscription to the magazine “Hunting Grounds & Fishing Waters.”

It’s an intense time in Kerstin’s life, full of separations, jealousy and sadness, but also of new life that brings joy and hope. Kerstin, Life, and Death is the third book about Kerstin. The first book was awarded Slangbellan, a prize for best children’s book debut.

Helena Hedlund is an actress and a playwright. The Best Thing about Kerstin was her fictional debut. Katarina Strömgård is an illustrator and writer. She works with books, comics, magazines, and animations for games.

More books in the series