reputation would be severely damaged. Micke is the sports' leader at the camp. Through the ten weeks at summer camp, Anders discovers that he can trust Micke. He tells Micke that he is the only one he likes: at home, his father mistreats him. When he eats, his father tells him exactly how much money he owes. On the other hand, his father always complains that Anders is much too small and that he is an imbecile. He also forces him to watch when he rapes his mother. Micke finds it very difficult to react to this openness, but tries to be open and be a friend. When the summer camp is finished, Micke needs to work for his exams, at the end of the year. He also trains a lot, and wins a lot of matches by running fastest. He has hardly any time left for Anders, and the few times he sees him, Anders tells him a lot about how he is mistreated everywhere. Micke finds it increasingly difficult to know how to handle the situation. He tries to contact the school about it, but the school direction does not believe that there is any bullying at Södra Latins. Later, it seems Anders' life might be getting better, because he and his mother are finally moving out of his fathers' house and Anders may be able to change school. However, at a later moment, Anders has a fight with his mother. The neighbours, who he visits sometimes, are not at home, and he cannot find Micke either. At this moment, he commits suicide by hanging himself. When Micke visits Anders' parents after his suicide, Anders' father asks Micke if he wants to sell his model railway track. Major themes The theme can be summarized by a citation that occurs several times in the book: Man bör tänka sig själv som en person som finns i framtiden och kan bedöma - fördöma eller gilla - det jag som handlar idag, det jag som håller stånd eller sviker. -- Eyvind Johnson "Om mod", I angeläget ärende, Tor Andreæ, Stockholm 1941, This could be translated as "One should view oneself as someone in the future looking back — approving or disapproving — the self that acts today, the self that either makes a stand or gives in." Awards and nominations German book of the month in September 1991, by Bulletin Jugend