Book guide: There it was!
ISSUES OF CONFLICTS, PROFIT AND LOSS
1. Charlotte is happy about being named to Östergötland's best team, it is a step on the way to her goal. Do you have any particular goals right now - or for life, and if so, what could be steps on the way to them?
2. Charlotte gets angry at her parents when they say she is tired. Have you experienced others telling you how you feel, what you want or feel? How is it?
3. Charlotte is shocked when Lisa does not know if she intends to go with her to Jönköping. Why do you think Lisa isn't as sure she wants it as Charlotte?
4. When Charlotte injures her foot, she falls out with the others in the team and does not want to have contact with them. Why do you think it will be like that?
5. Julia doesn't really answer if she's in love with Lo. Why do you think she doesn't? Can it be difficult to know if you are in love with someone?
6. Charlotte thinks it seems good to be with someone who likes the same things. What do you think is most important if you want to be with someone?
7. Charlotte's mother talks about finding balance in training. What do you think she means by that?
8. Julia is a person who jokes and invents many things. What's good about being like that?
QUESTIONS OF DEATH, BALANCE AND INTEREST
1. Charlotte thinks she wants to be remembered as Sweden's best soccer player. What would you like to be remembered as?
2. Charlotte and her father visit the cemetery. On All Saints Day, some people light candles on graves. Why do you think one does that?
3. Have you been to a cemetery? How was it? What do you think happens when we die?
4. Julia's father Amir left his dog when he fled the war in Kurdistan. How do you think it was for him? What do you think it's like to get a new dog?
5. Charlotte loves to play soccer. Is there something you enjoy doing?
6. Charlotte wants to be a professional soccer player when she grows up. Is there something you would like to work on?
ABOUT ANGER
Finding it important to win and having difficulty dealing with losses in competition and games is a trait that all people can have, regardless of gender identity. But expressing the feelings and acting on them is more socially accepted for those who are boys or men. It is connected to our ideas of masculinity and femininity, where women are expected to have more interest in the collective and to be responsible for the social atmosphere. To only think it's funny when you're at your best and when you win is simply more male-coded. There are of course pros and cons to being a so-called winner, but in the driving force there is also a strength that can help people move forward in life. And how okay or not it is to be a winner should not be governed by whether you are a girl or a boy, and therefore the portrayal of characters like Charlotte who think that the most important thing is to win is needed.
ABOUT LOVE
The image of what love and romantic relationships are and should be is strongly influenced by the images that meet us throughout life. In books, on television, in advertisements and films, patterns recur that allow women's and men's roles in the game of love and relationships to be different. One of the images that comes back is the idea of relationships taking over everything in life, especially for girls. An idea about a strong contradiction between, as a girl, having an interest that takes a lot of time and energy, and having a relationship. Therefore, nuanced images of what a relationship can be are needed, as in this book. There, Lisa gets a boyfriend with whom she can both share an interest and with whom she can discuss things as an equal and a friend. In addition, the book portrays a guy who shows interest in his girlfriend's activities and comes to watch her work out – a role that girls are more likely to assume otherwise. Challenging norms around love is not only about challenging the heteronorm, but also about changing gendered expectations - so that the relationships that people have become equal and rewarding for everyone involved.
