Book Description
for The Casket of Time by Andri Snær Magnason
From The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
Sigrun does everything she can to avoid hearing about the apocalyptic “situation” that is consuming her parents' attention. She's relieved when her family—and the rest of the word—decide to hibernate until the problem is solved, but when she accidentally wakes up too early, she finds that the wilderness has overrun her city. Sigrun is discovered by a group of children who were released from hibernation early, and along with a researcher named Grace, they work to solve the “situation.” When Grace reveals that it was all caused by an ancient, fairytale-like curse, Sigrun realizes that she and her friends need to work together to fix the world.
2013, Icelandic Literary Prize winner for Children and Young People's Books. 2013, Icelandic Booksellers Best Teenage Book of the Year. 2020 GLLI YA Translated Book Prize Shortlist. 2020 Green Earth Awards Honor Book.
Andri Snær Magnason has written novels, poetry, plays, short stories and essays, largely focussing on global environmental collapse.
Icelandic. Originally published in Iceland as Timakistan by Mál og menning in 2013. English translation by Björg Arnadóttir & Andrew Cauthery published in the United States by Restless Books/Yonder in 2019.
© USBBY, 2022. Used with permission.