Ivy vs Ivy review

Added to this, the people in Ivy’s life feed into that chaos too. The relationships she has with her family, teacher and classmates are hard for her to understand and often lead to conflict. Although her dad is cool – staying up late to play Mario Kart with her – he lives in San Francisco, close to her grandpa, who is the worst person ever, and seemingly the reason for Ivy’s parents being separated. Ivy is, however, beginning to wonder whether her relationship with her father might require more than once-in-a-lifetime trips and gaming. Her mum on the other hand lives with Ivy and thinks her daughter is amazing, though she has habits that don’t quite make sense and cannot stick to appointments, no matter how important. Ivy’s classmates are distant from her, and worst of all, their form teacher Emma has made a new seating plan which places Ivy next to Hjalmar, who is quite clearly a weirdo and best avoided. Who else would iron their jeans for school?

Sometimes it’s hard to recognise loneliness, but once you do, it can be devastating, and Ivy finds herself in conflict after conflict, not quite knowing why. But as she starts to see herself differently, she also begins to see the people in her life in a new light, and an exciting, surprising future opens up.

Persson has worked in schools with nine to twelve-year-olds – the intended readership – for a number of years. He says he has often seen pupils get tired of reading, so he wrote something specifically with those readers in mind, with all the things they’ll like: ‘a fast pace, fun dialogue and lots of conflict’ (see this article on the publisher’s website, in Swedish). The chapters are short, each one covering a single scene. Alongside the fact that the entire narrative covers the course of a day, this is indeed a pacy novel that that keeps the pages turning quickly.

There is a slight pedagogical bent to the character development, as the novel seeks to show what changes in one important day, if you meet the right people, ask the right questions and remain optimistic of success. Some may find this ‘self-improvement’ angle and Ivy’s self-analytical dialogue a little too moralising, though this in itself creates an uplifting, feel-good ending. In the character of Ivy, Persson has created a free-spirited and joyful character whom it’s easy to root for, and there are plans to continue writing about her adventures (see interview on publisher’s website, in Swedish).