A look in the mirror that makes you sick

I miss you Barbara.

You’ve been in for so long now

your room

Otherwise I could always

come to you.

Does not matter when. It doesn’t matter why.

A girl is standing in front of the locked door to her big sister. Barbara locked herself in. Since she can’t deal with her body, she doesn’t let anyone near her. Not even the little sister who admires her so much. Barbara is anorexic.

With her book “Half a banana and the order of the world”, the author Sarah Michaela Orlovsky not only addressed and touched on a constant companion of many young girls. For her book, which was published by Tyrolia Verlag in 2021, the native of Wilheringen, who now lives in Ebensee with her husband and three children, was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize in the children’s book category. The winners will be announced on October 21 at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

“If you start looking, tragically, you will also find people in your own biography who do not feel comfortable or cannot look at themselves in the mirror. To look at this topic not from the perspective of an affected person, but from the perspective of her younger sister, has long appealed to me.” , says Orlovsky, who herself reads almost exclusively children’s literature. Her book is also not an “anorexia book”, it’s more about the sister who tries to open a door – in several senses of the word.

The 37-year-old has already received numerous awards for her children’s and youth books. She has won the Austrian Children’s and Youth Book Prize four times. The kindergarten teacher, after-school care teacher, German studies and prospective pastoral assistant has worked for many years in social projects all over the world. She brought handwritten notes with her from everywhere, which she worked through in book form.

What makes a good children’s book? Orlovsky: “If you can laugh out loud while reading, but also cry.” It’s the same with the lyrically condensed book “Half a banana and the order of the world. The lyrics are touching and the end lets a crack of hope through the door.

“Half a Banana and the Order of the World” by Sarah Michaela Orlovsky; Tyrolia Verlag, 60 pages, 12.95 euros, from September 9th