Kidnappet

K- #6

by Johan-Arnt Strøm

Knut, Per og Kristine befinner seg om bord i Kiel-ferga, og kastes inn i en farlig kamp hvor alle midler tas i bruk.

Situasjonen for de tre synes håpløs . . .

118 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Author from Bodø, Northern Norway, who is well-known for his Hardy Boys-esque crime series of books for children (the K-series), all set in the local area. He also co-authored with his wife the first editions of the German to Norwegian (and vice versa) technical dictionaries, and wrote several books on locally important boats and local boat traditions.

Reviews

[Arnstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sixth book in the K-series is one that deals with themes that are more serious than usual, and fortunately treats them just as seriously as is required.

Kidnappet (translated: Kidnapped) deals with family abductions and domestic violence, two very serious issues which are difficult to address in a book intended for children. It poses several challenges, the most important one being how to present the plight of the child in question. Their desperation must be felt and understood by the young readers without leaving them marked by fear and uncertainty. But just as the story can’t get too heavy so neither can it get too light. These are real problems that some children have to live through and the book needs to reflect that. The K-series had previously been uneven when it came to how they treated serious topics – the first book, Gi deg ikke, Knut/Don’t Give Up, Knut, was particularly bad at this – but this one did nearly everything right, and deserves to be merited as such.

The exception comes in the usual form for a K-series book. Parents are meant to listen to their child, but neither of Knut, Per, or Kristine have parents they can depend on for that. When they tell Kristine’s father about what is going on he responds as follows:

Kristine’s father didn’t believe us at all. He had trouble keeping serious, and when I had finally finished, he said with a big grin.
“You are really gullible. And this Rune, he must have had a vivid imagination.” (p. 31; reviewer’s own translation)

Since they grew up with such unreliable parents, the three friends do not trust adults to help them. They consider alerting the captain to help Rune, the kidnapped child, but assume he too will only laugh because that is what they think adults do. On the subject of parental neglect, their parents don’t want the hassle of having them around so they encourage the three to gamble away the evening on slot machines. Previous such diversions has clearly made its mark on Knut: My passion for slot machines was well known (p. 11; reviewer’s own translation), is a sentence which shouldn’t come from any twelve-year old. And unfortunately it seems like the author didn’t see a problem in any of this.

Knut, Per, and Kristine meet Rune onboard one of the ferries that go between Oslo and Kiel, and already then we get to see how terrified Rune is by it all. He pleads for them to help him, they agree. And from then on they are caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with two grown men who are trying to do them harm, while simultaneously trying to get Rune to safety. That one of these men is Rune’s own father makes it all so much worse.

The K-series uses a language which is easy to read and understand. This means that most anyone could enjoy them with little or no struggle, promoting the joy of reading. I think of this as the foremost of the accomplishments of the series, and Kidnapped is no different from the rest. It suffers from a bit of bad editing here and there, but it doesn’t hinder reading so it’s of little consequence. There are also a few bouts of nonsense here and there, which I attribute to the same editorial laziness. Take this as an example:

I faced the cabin doors uncertainly. They were marked 1, 2, 3, and 4. Above a door on the other side it said “Officers.” Where does this lead, I thought and opened it. Beyond there was a small hallway. On one door it said chief engineer, on another captain. That was when I understood. This was the cabins of the officers on board. (p. 112; reviewer’s own translation)

So... He (Knut) reads the signs that says “Officers,” but needs to see the signs to the captain’s and the chief engineer’s quarters before he understands that the sign means there are officers there. The book provides a little unintended entertainment like this, but, again, nothing that makes the text more difficult.

Flaws aside, Kidnapped is one of the high points of the K-series. I remember thinking so when I read this as a kid. I recently re-read it and discovered that this hasn’t changed. It is books like this one that made the series so famous among the children in the author’s home town.