Brightly Shining

September 30, 2024
Rishøi (Winter Stories) offers a charming, Christmas-themed novella about sisterhood and financial hardship in contemporary Oslo. Sisters Melissa and Ronja, 16 and 10, live with their single father, an alcoholic who can’t hold down a job. When his frequent trips to the bar cost him his new gig at a Christmas tree stand, Melissa takes his place. Her boss, the miserly Eriksen, pays her less than her father, forcing Melissa to work long hours just to keep food on the table. Ronja, who narrates, frequently visits Melissa at work, and helps boost sales of Christmas wreaths by telling customers the proceeds will go to “children in need” (that is, her and her sister). Eriksen discovers the sisters’ plan during one of his infrequent visits to the stand, and bans Ronja, threatening Melissa’s job, as well. The sisters’ plight takes a perilous turn as Christmas approaches along with a heavy storm, and they dream of living in a warm forest cabin instead of their harsh corner of Oslo. Rishøi’s choice to tell the story from the 10-year-old’s point of view proves fruitful, as Ronja conveys genuine hope amid the family’s dire circumstances along with hints of wisdom beyond her years. This has the feel of a classic holiday tale.

October 1, 2024
Ten-year-old Ronja's school caretaker hands her a flyer to give to her out-of-work father. A Christmas tree stand in Oslo is seeking workers. Ronja's father lands the job, and for a little while, things look up for their little family--Ronja, her dad, and her 16-year-old sister, Melissa. But when one of his drinking buddies comes around, their father's back to spending his earnings on alcohol. Melissa begs to take over his shift, fitting it in before and after school, and soon Ronja finds solace among the pines. Told with the clear-eyed candor of young Ronja, this beautifully crafted novel explores the challenges of a child's unpredictable life with an alcoholic father and the band of kind people who try to help, including an older neighbor and the tree-stand worker about to become a father himself. This moving tale, with not a single wasted word, asks how we keep going when hope fades and life's burdens become too much to bear, leaning on the power of imagination and connection to find a way forward.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
A Christmas story about a 10-year-old Norwegian girl who believes in miracles, and her 16-year-old sister. "Hello, two motherless children and an alcoholic here, can you please give us two more weeks?" This is the phone call that Melissa resorted to just once, according to her little sister, Ronja. It's the full truth, which the sisters try to keep hidden--from the neighbors, from the schools, and even from themselves. The story focuses on one Christmas season when, ever so briefly, their father dries out and gets a job as a Christmas tree seller before once again falling apart. As he disappears into bars, Melissa takes over his job, doing the work before and after school, but for less pay. Soon, her coworker Tommy brings Ronja in to convince customers to buy decorative wreaths so he and the girls can split the commission. She hawks them, saying that "all proceeds go to children in need!"--that is, she and her sister and Tommy's soon-to-be-born child. But Ronja is too young to be working at the tree market, so her efforts must be kept secret from the owner. Though the sisters love their father, he's unable to care for them and regularly put food in the fridge, so they're desperate. But as much as they hope no one sees their situation, everyone does--and just a scant few try to help: There's Aronsen, the across-the-hallway neighbor who feeds Ronja a few meals and irons her Christmas costume. The caretaker at school who shares his lunch with Ronja every day. Ronja's friend Musse and his dad, who find her wandering in the cold and try to get her sister to take her to the emergency room. Ronja is convinced that when things are at their worst, a miracle can happen, because sometimes they just do. But then again, sometimes they don't. A heart-wrenching tale of children trying their utmost to take care of each other.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.