Around the World ~ Brazil, Turkey, Sweden

Along the Tapajós ~ by Fernando Vilela, translated by Daniel Hahn, 2019, children's fiction (Brazil), 8/10

Cauã and Inaê are a brother and sister living in a small community along the Tapajós River in Brazil.  Here, the homes are on stilts and everyone travels around by boat — even to school.  When the rainy season comes, they must leave their village and relocate to higher ground for a while.  But after moving this year, Cauã and Inaê realize they’ve left behind something important: their pet tortoise, Titi.  Unlike turtles, tortoises can’t swim, and Cauã and Inaê are really worried.  So the pair sneaks back at night on a journey along the river to rescue him.  Will they be able to save Titi?  This picture book, first published in Brazil, offers kids a unique look into the lives of children who live along Brazil’s beautiful Tapajós River.

The Girl in the Tree ~ by Şebnem İşigüzel, translated by Mark David Wyers, 2016 (translation 2020), fiction (Turkey)

A young woman climbs the tallest tree in Istanbul’s centuries-old Gülhane Park, determined to live out the rest of her days there.  Perched in an abandoned stork’s nest in a sanctuary of branches and leaves, she tries to make sense of the rising tide of violence in the world below.  Torn between the desire to forget all that has happened and the need to remember, her story, and the stories of those around her, begins to unfold.

Then, unexpectedly, comes a soul mate with a shared destiny.  A lonely boy working at a nearby hotel looks up and falls in love.  The two share stories of the fates of their families, of a changing city, and of their political awakenings in the Gezi Park protests.  Together, they navigate their histories of love and loss, set against a backdrop of societal tension leading up to the tragic bombing that marked a turn in Turkey’s democracy — and sent a young girl fleeing into the trees.

The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin ~ by Jan Stocklassa, translated by Tara F. Chace, 2018 (English translation 2019), true crime or creative nonfiction (Sweden)

When Stieg Larsson died, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had been working on a true mystery that out-twisted his Millennium novels: the assassination on February 28, 1986, of Olof Palme, the Swedish prime minister.  It was the first time in history that a head of state had been murdered without a clue who’d done it — and on a Stockholm street at point-blank range.

Internationally known for his fictional villains, Larsson was well acquainted with their real-life counterparts and documented extremist activities throughout the world.  For years he’d been amassing evidence that linked their terrorist acts to what he called “one of the most astounding murder cases” he’d ever covered.

Larsson’s archive was forgotten until journalist Jan Stocklassa was given exclusive access to the author’s secret project.  In The Man Who Played with Fire, Stocklassa collects the pieces of Larsson’s true-crime puzzle to follow the trail of intrigue, espionage, and conspiracy begun by one of the world’s most famous thriller writers.  Together they set out to solve a mystery that no one else could.

These three books are among nine Read the World 2020 books offered free for Kindle through April 24 for World Book Day.