Ir-rumanz li fetaħ beraħ il-bieb għat-twelid tal-letteratura YA għall-adolexxenti bil-Malti
F’raħal żgħir, fejn kważi qatt ma jiġri xejn, qed jibda sajf ieħor kollu riħ isfel u gdim tan-nemus. Imma did-darba qed jibda bil-kbir għax tifel ta’ ħdax-il sena joħroġ mid-dar u ma jerġax jidħol.
Ommu qed tibkih.
Il-pulizija qed ifittxuh.
Il-qassisin qed jitolbu għalih.
U fil-każin qed jinġemgħu ħafna iżjed nies mis-soltu.
Fil-frattemp, Jason qed jipprova jgħabbi l-isbaħ tifla tar-raħal.
Pierre J. Mejlak
Pierre J. Mejlak huwa magħruf l-aktar għall-antoloġija tiegħu Dak li l-Lejl Iħallik Tgħid (Having said goodnight), li biha rebaħ il-Premju Unjoni Ewropea għal-Letteratura fl-2014 u li ġa ġiet tradotta f’għaxar lingwi. Il-kitbiet tiegħu ispiraw sensiela televiżiva, film qasir u numru ta’ xogħlijiet teatrali. Fil-ħin liberu tiegħu, iħobb jilgħab it-table tennis u jemmen li t-top spins tiegħu għandhom potenzjal.
“A breath of fresh air in a hot and humid summer. Mejlak is at his best, depicting the difficulties of being 15 or 16 in a village that is at least 500 years old, and has not changed much in the meantime. I do not, by any stretch, fall into the age bracket that this book is aimed at. Yet I am not ashamed to say that I enjoyed reading it more than I enjoyed reading works of fiction in Maltese meant for more adult readers. It may well be that I have not yet grown up, but I suppose it is also because finally young adult fiction has come of age. This is a book for young people who want to be treated like grown ups, for grown ups who want to feel young, and for anyone who likes a good story well told. Whatever age you are, buy this book and read it. If your parents are still responsible for what you read, do not tell them about it.”– Marco Galea, The Times of Malta
“Mejlak writes in a simple, lucid style reminiscent of Mark Haddon. Like Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Riħ Isfel belongs to the cross-over genre appealing to teenagers and adults alike. I’d recommend Rih Isfel to anyone wanting to exorcise the mind-numbing Maltese study texts of past school days. Actually I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good read.”– Claire Bonello, MaltaToday