Und die Welt, sie fliegt hoch
2024
Fischer Sauerländer GmbH
About the book:
English title: Towards a Brighter Sky
Illustrated YA novel for ages 12+, 272 pages.
February 2024
Foreign Rights sold: Czech (Portal) | Spanish (South America, Macmillan) | Dutch (Vier Windstreken) | Slovak (Ikar) | Italian (Iperborea) | Latvian (Janis Roze) | Turkish (Domingo) | Chinese Simplified (21st Century Publishing)
Winner of the German Youth Literature Award 2025
A WhatsApp novel
Text cleverly supplemented by illustrations by Sarah Maus
"I always believed that there was no one there except for me."
Summer holidays! Everyone is outside, sitting in an ice cream parlour or relaxing by the lake. Only fourteen-year-old Yuri stays at home, because Yuri's favourite place is his room - it's where he feels safe. Just two weeks before school starts, he receives a message from Ava. The two know each other from primary school and haven't heard from each other in years. Ava would love to be at the outdoor pool with other people. But Ava is grounded. "Because of this thing," she says. They start up a conversation via text and voice messages, and although the two couldn't be more different, bit by bit they open up to each other. Light topics like their favourite ice cream or their worst birthdays are soon followed by their first confessions about little secrets and big fears. Until Ava's wild stories begin to shake the trust they have just started to build.
About the author:
Sarah Jäger studied drama education and still works in this field. She is always on the lookout for novels and stories that hit the head, heart and stomach. Her novel The Night as Big as Us was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize and the Paul Maar Prize for Young Talents in 2022. In 2025, she won the German Youth Literature Prize for her novel Towards a Brighter Sky ("Und die Welt, sie fliegt hoch").
About the illustrator:
Sarah Maus, born in 1995, works as a freelance illustrator and art teacher.
Sarah Jäger has already [...] demonstrated just how well she can empathise with the emotional world of young people. She has done a brilliant job here once again. rbb Kultur, 14.02.2024
A soaring display of artistry. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 16.03.2024
A delicate balance between seriousness and light-heartedness, told with precision, intelligence and focus by Sarah Jäger. Sarah Maus adds a complementary layer of humour with her cartoon-style illustrations. Eliport, 10.04.2024
For further information please feel free to contact:
Esther Mallm
Senior Rights Manager | Foreign Rights
Tel.: +49 (0)69/6062-429
E-Mail: [email protected]
Fischer Sauerländer GmbH
Hedderichstr. 114, 60596 Frankfurt am Main
Website: www.fischer-sauerlaender.de/verlag/foreign-rights