“Every seven-year-old deserves a superhero.”

From Fredrik Backman’s My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.

Elsa is a spunky, 7-almost-8-year-old girl that lives with her Mum, Granny, and a handful of secluded, mismatched neighbors.  Elsa is different partly because she is so intelligent, but mainly because she has spent too much time with her rule-breaking, chain-smoking Granny.  Elsa’s only friend in the world is Granny, because whenever she has a bad day, Granny is there for her with some wild adventure to take her mind off her troubles… much to the annoyance of local law enforcement.  Granny even created a magical kingdom (The Land-of-Almost-Awake) filled with amazing creatures, wonderful battles between good and evil, and fantastic fairytales all for Elsa, but none of Granny’s spunk is able to save her from cancer.  While she’s stuck trying to sort out life without her grandmother, Elsa is given an apology letter from Granny to deliver to a neighbor as well as a mission to find and deliver all of Granny’s apologies.  Fantasy and real life quickly collide as Elsa delivers the letters to the people in her building; with each delivered apology, Elsa learns more about her neighbors, their connection to Granny’s fairytales, and Granny’s life before Elsa was born.

Backman creates an experience that truly captures the transition every child must make to grow up.  This story is charming and full of wit, especially with the “very mature for a 7-year-old” Elsa as a narrator.  There are twists scattered throughout the story that progress steadily as the book does to create a world full of laughter, love, and heartbreak.  Although necessary for the story as a whole, several of the descriptions of The Land-of-Almost-Awake are rather tedious to read through between the reality of the story, but overall, My Grandmother Asked Me… is a story that will easily capture any reader’s attention.