Stefano

María Teresa Andruetto

Short novel. Juvenile
Editorial Sudamericana. Buenos Aires, August 1997. 5th edition, 2006. 96 pages

Stefano is a bildungsroman, it is the story of an inner and outer journey experienced by a teenager who, at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the period between the two great wars, sets off from Genoa and heads towards Buenos Aires to try his fortune. Hunger and pain, the farewell to his the way to the port with some friends who are also leaving, the trip by boat, a shipwreck, the arrival to the port in Buenos Aires, his trip by train to the Pampa, his enrolment in a circus… are milestones in this journey where the adolescent is initiated into the world of sex, love is discovered, a job is found, and he will start building his identity in this new land. A poignant and encouraging novel
about the initiation of a boy into adulthood. Stefano is not just a novel about immigration, it is regarded as a classic, it is a must in juvenile Spanish literature.

“Pay attention: Stefano is an unusual example of the compatibility between suspense and critical realism, between simple and exquisite language”. Peter Braulein. Bulletin Jugend & Literatur und Medien.

Prizes and honours awarded

White Ravens 1998. Internationale Jugendbibliothek. Munich. Germany.
Destacados (Distinguished) ALIJA (Argentinean Children and Juvenile Literature Association), 1999.
Best book, awarded by the “Bulletin Jugendliteratur & Medien”, monthly German magazine of Literature and other Media for young readers. January, 2004.
Finalist for Argentina Editora Mariana Vera. International Young Publisher of the Year Award. London 2005.
Finalist, Edición Santillana and University of Salamanca Prize. Master of Editing. Madrid, 2006.

 

Published bay: Argentina Editorial Sudamericana / Colombia and Latin America Babel Libros/ Spain SM/ Galician Galaxia editorial /Germany Atlantis Verlag.  (*contract expired)