Mijn vader woont in Brazilië

by Thea Beckman

Moniques moeder is niet getrouwd. Sommige ouders vinden dat zo erg, dat hun kinderen niet met Monique mogen omgaan. Het enige dat Monique van haar vader weet, is dat hij in Brazilië woont. Plotseling komt haar vader uit Brazilië terug en wil hij met haar moeder trouwen...

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction, Dutch Literature

100 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Thea Beckman (1923-2004) was born in Rotterdam. She began writing in 1947, but it was not until her children were grown that she devoted herself to writing full time. Crusade in Jeans was first published in 1973. It became an overnight success, making her one of the most popular authors of juvenile books in the Netherlands. Ms. Beckman is fascinated by history and wrote books about many historical periods.

Reviews

[Chantal · Rating 3 out of 5]

***My dad lives in Brazil***I have read more books by this writer, she mostly writes historical fiction books. I wished she kept writing that, this book wasn't a success. It was boring and nothing really happened. Yes, it discussed discrimination, but that was all.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover
Een van haar mindere boeken vind ik.
Haar historische romans, als " kruistocht in spijkerbroek " vond ik veel fijner om te lezen. Als kind en volwassene. Toch was het goed genoeg om uit te lezen en 3 sterren te geven.

[Jan van Houten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is 100% focused on its message against paternalism and discrimination. Beckman presents her message with a striking amount of nuance, describing a very real and complex situation. However (fortunately), the societal context has changed considerably since the 1970s, and therefore (unfortunately) this book has lost a great deal of relevance.

[Sietske van Schaik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dagboek achtig, vlot geschreven, in 1 ruk uitgelezen in een korte avond.
Goed te doen.

[Yessica Gareca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me sentí un poco identificada con la historia.

[Grada (BoekenTrol) · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a RABCK-box that CC sent to me 'just because'. Junior and I are very happy with this book and look forward to read it!

I liked this book. The first part, where the reader reads parts of Albert-Jan's diary I found not so good. Quite detached for me clearly written not by a young teenager, but by a grown up.
The part from Monique's view (also diary form) was a lot better.
Every now and then I still heared the adult voice, but it was less obvious than in Albert-Jan's part.

I got annoyed a bit, by the flash back to the old days: the role women were supposed to play, how was looked at single mums (who hadn't even been married!).
It also brought back a voice I hadn't heared a long time. Junior's teacher in elementary school made the same remark to me as was made in the book: that I should find a man / get married to be able to give my son the upbringing he needs.... Only reading it made me furious all over again.

The fact that this book has the theme it does, also makes that it is quite outdated now. (Well, at least for the my generation and most of the people who are now young.) I'm not sure if it is still read a lot by teenagers nowadays. Junior didn't like it: he could not relate to Albert-Jan at all.
A pity, because the books still has an important message: all people are equal, no matter what their sex, color, belief or nature. That still deserves to be told (as long as the pope airs messages like he did earlier this week....!)