The Big L Hotel
Sjoerd Kuyper
Trim size: : 14,3 x 21,5 cm | 228 pages
Kos, a thirteen-year-old boy, talks about the most bizarre period in his life. His mother died a few years ago and his dad is having a heart attack – right at the moment Kos makes the winning goal in the championship game. While Kos’ father is in the hospital, it looks like the hotel he is running will be a big mess. But Kos and his three sisters do not intend to let that happen! Libby, the responsible oldest sister, Briek, the goth who feels best when she disappears in her music, and afterthought Pel, who is always cheerfully fluttering (preferably in a dress of her mother) put themselves together, and start to run the hotel, together with their brother Kos. This naturally leads to absurd scenes. Then it turns out that father is deep in financial problems. The hotel is threatened with closure… But the children come up with a solution: someone has to win the local beauty pageant, with a hefty cash prize attached. Just guess who is the prettiest girl of the four of them? Exactly: Kos!
Rights sold:
English Worldwide
France
Germany
Italy
Korea
Lithuania
Macedonia
Russian Federation
Slovenia
Turkey
Quotes from the press
‘Reading Kuyper makes your heart pump faster, tingling with happiness.’ ***** ‘With his superb style, his dark humour and unparalleled sense of the absurd, [Sjoerd Kuyper] turns The Big L Hotel into that one book in a thousand.’ ‘This prose is irresistible. You can only conclude that Kuyper is a true writer for teenage boys.’ ‘A learning school of love for boys and girls.’
– NRC Handelsblad
– Jury Silver Slate Pencil 2015
***** – de Volkskrant
– Jury report Premio Strega
Sjoerd Kuyper (1952) has written over forty books, many of which have been awarded and several have been turned into movies. For his oeuvre Kuyper was awarded the Theo Thijssen Prize, a triennial prize for children’s literature. He has also been knighted as an officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.