At the age of 12 or so - even younger, at times - children stop identifying themselves as children and begin their search for their own identity, somewhere between childhood and adulthood. This is evident in everything they do, say, wear ... and read. Teenagers' reading material tends to be dramatically different to children's books and also to a certain extent different to adult books.Young adult literature, or teenage literature as it is also called, usually refers to a certain kind of literature that doesn't treat its readers as young children, but speaks frankly about life and growing up. It also at times tackles thorny subjects that children might have been shielded from until then. At the same time, young adult literature understands and acknowledges that teenagers are still not adults and therefore is cautious and responsible in its tackling of difficult subject matter.Maltese literature is fast growing its range of young adult literature, and one of its most recent additions is Kważi kważi lil Tamara nżommuha, a novel originally written in Italian by Georgia Manzi, and adapted into Maltese by award-winning author Simon Bartolo.Published by Merlin Publishers, this novel tells the story of Lilli, an Italian teenager who together with her parents has to move from Italy to Athens, when her dad gets a job there. Set in the midst of the economic meltdown in Greece a few years back, Lilli tries to settle into her new life and befriends a guy, whom she eventually falls for.Then, suddenly, her family is faced with very serious problems, problems that turn Lilli's life upside down and put into question everything she's ever believed and lived for. Lilli has no other option but to plan her escape from the sadness that her home has become.But in that home, there is also Tamara, their Romanian maid and housekeeper, a woman with a heart of gold who isn't treated too well by the family. Over time, and as events unfold, Lilli begins to slowly understand what a rock Tamara is to her amid all the turmoil. The novel's translator, Simon Bartolo, is one of Malta's best-loved author of children's and young adult literature. Besides writing the young adult novel Deformity and other novels, together with Loranne Vella, he penned the bestselling classic trilogy Il-Fiddien.
Kważi kważi lil Tamara nżommuhais available from all bookshops, or online directly fromwww.merlinpublishers.com