Oever
Jip has to make a self-portrait for school. But even though the teenager has a talent for drawing and ‘a head that’s bigger on the inside than on the outside’, every attempt fails. ‘The problem isn’t with the letters in the assignment,’ Jip realises. The ‘portrait’ part is fine. No, it’s the word ‘self’ – what is Jip supposed to do with that?
Ludwig Volbeda writes as he draws: sensitively, intimately and with striking observations and metaphors that gradually give the reader insight into Jip’s innermost thoughts. He doesn’t immediately reveal whether Jip is a boy or a girl: the reader has to search for Jip’s identity, just as Jip does. What is clear, though, is that Jip is good at ‘twilight dreaming’ and isn’t just mad about insects (Jip wants to study biology) but also about the new boy at school.
In a series of emotional letters (which aren’t sent), Jip confides in the new classmate about missing their best friend Oever, who deliberately disappeared from Jip’s life because he had difficulty with how others defined Jip – and therefore him. By writing the letters, Jip goes on a journey of self-discovery and realises what a defining role that childhood friendship played:
‘When I was seven, I saw a boy for the first time. That was how it felt, like seeing a real boy for the very first time,’ says the struggling adolescent. ‘I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get to know him or if I wanted to be him. All I knew for certain was that I wanted to stay close to him for the rest of my life, so that I could find out. Do you get it?’ What emerges is a magnificent, authentic and striking self-portrait in words, which reveals that Jip’s outward and inner self are not in harmony. When, after kissing the new classmate in an amusing scene, Jip finally finds the courage to see the real Jip, the school assignment works out, in a hopeful conclusion to a unique, exquisitely written book that is not to be missed.
A coming-of-gender story
Stylistically sophisticated
An unforgettable protagonist
“It is rare to encounter a book about gender identity written with the attention and finesse of Oever.”
“It doesn’t often happen that you read a debut and immediately feel that you’re dealing with an author in a league of their own.”
