Children’s and youth literature – living without parents (archive)

The main characters in children’s and young people’s books are often left to their own devices or spend their days in a distant place. Parents are also absent from the so-called boarding school novels. This can be a space, but also a problem that is addressed in many novels, such as Harry Potter or Pippi Longstocking.

Naughty, free and independent: Pippi Longstocking is one of the world’s best-known children’s book characters (imago)

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Sweden The heirs of Astrid Lindgren

Whether Oliver Twist, Heidi, Jim Knopf, Harry Potter, the red Zora, Mowgli, Krabat, Momo, Pippi Longstocking, Ira, Flo, Krempe, Julian or Holly – they all have one thing in common: they spend their lives without parents. If you deal with the history of children’s and youth literature, you will encounter young protagonists, from Grimm’s fairy tales to classic comic heroes such as Spiderman to current realistic literature, who sometimes struggle through everyday life with or without caregivers without parental protection. Fathers and mothers do not disappear or die in the course of the action, they simply do not exist.

"But I think it’s so common because the challenges that exist without parents to prove themselves are far greater. And in stories you always look for extreme situations in order to tell something with the help of extreme situations, which you can then break down or use for your everyday life and grow, yes, can stand up to it."

According to the children’s book author Nina Weger.

book excerpt "Pippi long stocking": "She had no mother and no father, and it was actually very nice, because there was nobody to tell her to go to bed, especially when she was in the middle of the most beautiful game."

Could Pippi Longstocking with her mother and father lead their autonomous life with their own little house, monkey and horse? Certainly not.

Nina Weger: "I look after several Syrian children and families and then the girls told me that they have now got a book in school, there is a girl who lives all alone in a house and has big shoes and nobody takes care of them. And then I said yes, Pippi Longstocking. And then they said: What, you know them too? And then I said yes, everyone knows Pippi Longstocking. And then I thought how great that this figure has lost none of its topicality. So when she meets children in a completely new way and has the same fascination as I did then, someone who determines her life entirely on her own. I found that very exciting."

Super strong Pippi is still up to date

Everything that children dream of can be found in the stories about the super-strong Pippi: autonomy, independence and, above all, fun with the crazy. For Astrid Lindgren, however, the focus is not on how a child fits into society, but how it stays true to itself and stands up to the adults. However, the story about Pippi Longstocking also has a serious background. It is the work of an overwhelmed mother with a guilty conscience. The very young Astrid Lindgren had to give her son to a foster family after birth. In her happy story in 1944, she designed the scenario of an abandoned child who can be happy even without caring parents. Pippi never thought that her parents, the mother is dead, the father far away, would never have loved her.

Other literary figures who see themselves as outsiders have doubts, they feel lonely, fearful and unloved. Young readers experience ambivalent feelings in stories about parentless children. On the one hand, they feel their own inner fears and fears of losing their parents, but on the other hand, they want to differentiate themselves. And so orphans or foster children often become objects of empathy, but also serve as projection figures.

book excerpt "The red zora": "I mainly read the old chronicles, and preferably what the Uskoks said. But when I read it all, life in the gray house became more and more boring, and I walked away."

The stubborn orphan Zora doesn’t stay long with rules or regulations. She founds her own gang, the Uskoken, an emergency group of boys who are also orphans, homeless or rejected by their parents. Outside of society, children take all liberties and cross moral boundaries, but they also rebel against socially unjust conditions. Kurt Held tells in "The red Zora and her gang", written in 1941, a fairly realistic story with an assertive heroine. The modern classics like "The red zora", "Pippi long stocking", but also "Heidi" by Johanna Spyri and then later "Jim button " or "Momo" by Michael Ende paint an ideal picture of a strong and independent child who lives far from real commitments. Charles Dickens and his are completely different "Oliver Twist" in the 19th century.

book excerpt "Oliver Twist": "Oliver was said that if he did not go willingly or would show up in the poor house, he would be sent to the sea, where he had to be punished, where he must drown infallibly."

Exposed to the arbitrariness of adults

Always hungry, lonely and exposed to the brutal arbitrariness of adults, Oliver lives in England as an orphan. Charles Dickens designs, even based on his own experience as a child, an atmospheric social panorama. Oliver is sold to a mortician, he flees and falls into the hands of thieves. The counterpart to the unscrupulous gang leader Fagin is the well-read Mr. Brownlow. If Fagin exploits the children to increase his own wealth, Brownlow relies on the individual strengths of the children and education.

The writer Charles Dickens (AFP / INP)

If Oliver Twist is publicly chastised for his alleged misconduct, orphans are now punished behind closed doors. In Robin Roe’s new youth book "The suitcase" After the death of his parents, 14-year-old Julian lives in the big house of his uncle Russell, who humiliates him and hits him with the rod. Bullied by his classmates, Julian wears things that are too tight and has neither a cell phone nor a computer, and without self-esteem the adolescent struggles through everyday life until Adam, he is four years older, takes care of him and gradually finds out why Julian is so unsettled.

book excerpt "The suitcase": "I hate myself for always doing everything wrong. I hate the feeling when Russell is angry with me. And I hate the traces of his anger on my body."

Despite psychological support, nobody, neither the teacher nor the psychologist, can get to the traumatized Julian. Delivered defenseless to his sadistic uncle, the plot escalates and reads like an exciting thriller at the end. Through the narrative perspectives of the two boys chosen by the American author, the reader can look into their inner worlds and understand how fatally dependent and exposed orphans are to the people who are supposed to protect them. Also in the new novel "Curtain up for Johanna!" Annika Thor sweeps out some motifs "Oliver Twist" again. However, she combines her plot with the theater environment in 1835. The story is told from the perspective of the foundling Johann.

book excerpt "Curtain up for Johanna!": "Was it easier for girls to stay undetected? Was it easier to spot boys from the orphanage, and not just because of the shaved hair? It took a few days to plan everything. So much had to be considered. The clothes. The hair. Enough provisions for the first few days so that I didn’t have to beg and thus attracted attention."

Escape from the orphanage

As a girl, the eleven-year-old escapes hunger and hard work in the spinning mill of the orphanage and can under the wings of the angelic actress Ann-Maria hatch. Not without fear of discovery, Johann, who now calls himself Johanna, gets to know the fascinating life in a theater company. And Johann’s path crosses the irreverent and pragmatic orphan Gustav, who lives under a boat on the river. Annika Thor interweaves her story about the parentless children Johanna and Gustav, who are actually called Johann and Stava, with Shakespeare’s play "As you Like It". Anna-Maria would love to play this comedy, but her father loves historical dramas.

Johann and Stava, who escaped their violent stepfather, go on a search for a better life like Oliver Twist and try to protect themselves through gender change and their new roles as girls and boys. The Swedish author also takes in her book, like Charles Dickens in "Oliver Twist", the motif of the hidden high origin. Where Johann can just escape such an assassination attempt before the fairytale and happy end. Quite unbelievable in this novel, however, is that the people from the field do not see through the children’s drama; the course of the foreseeable action not far from the orphanage also seems too constructed. The reference to Shakespeare’s play seems artificial and fake. Mark Twain’s novel is still more realistic and far from any harmony addiction "Tom Sawyer’s Adventure", despite his distant setting on the Mississippi.

book excerpt "Tom Sawyer’s Adventure": "Tom ran around the block and came to a dirty path that passed behind his aunt’s cowshed. Now he was out of danger of being caught and punished. And he went to the town’s market square, where there were two dates "military formations" the boy had met for a battle."

The contemporary portrait shows the American writer Mark Twain (1835-1910). (picture alliance / dpa / Bifab)

The figure of Tom Sawyer exemplifies a free, unbound life. With his best friend Huck, Tom never avoids an adventure, however dramatic. But the boys are not unscrupulous, quite the contrary. Their love of truth and their penchant for risk make the two main characters so personable. Mark Twain not only lets Tom Sawyer play pranks, he also looks into his soul. As a child without parents, Tom thinks about whether he was ever loved and even stages a childlike imagination, his own death and the happy resurrection.

As Mara Schindler, her children’s novel "Brim, Kottek and the thing with Misses Schulz" wrote, she involuntarily thought of Mark Twain’s books.

"I think brim can grow up as wild as Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn did, because the age difference to grandpa is so huge. This free, which Kottek also embodies, I found there at least with Mark Twain. I had only read the book in the summer, how they can have a good time and set up their own rules, something reminded me of it."

Not just parents as points of reference

The ten-year-old brim, actually Karoline, lives with her grandfather Kottek in an idyllic old train station. Her parents died in a house fire when the child was only one year old. Kottek does not attach great importance to cleanliness, but prefers to philosophize with his granddaughter about life and whether the river trout bite. Brim doesn’t play Mau Mau either, but plays poker as much as he can.

book excerpt "Brim, Kottek and the thing with Misses Schulz": Brim pauses and listens. What is growling there is her stomach, and it demands something substantial, which she hears immediately. Maybe because it’s Monday today, thinks Brim. She takes the pack of eggs from the shelf and starts frying fried eggs. And if brim is frying fried eggs, it’s better to keep your distance, because it doesn’t sting with the butter and it doesn’t save with the heat."

Mara Schindler: "To understand brim, you have to get to know Kottek. This is her grandpa. Brim is the granddaughter of her grandfather and there are problems that arise. You could think of him as a cowboy who needs nothing and nobody but himself. And he has already had very difficult things in his life, things that most likely break, but not Kottek. He says I want to continue anyway, life is nice anyway. He tries everything to give brim. But brim is also overwhelmed, because she is actually only ten years old, is a sensitive girl. It is not for nothing that she hides behind her big trainman’s hat. I think it also makes it clear what parents can achieve and what Kottek can no longer fully achieve because he is old. And where brim lags behind and what then becomes a problem for them in the course of history."

When the annoying Misses Schulz from the youth welfare office, the sea witch, as Krempe calls her, is at the door, the girl feels really fear for the first time and not just her. All of the neighbors, Jakob, the hunter, farmer Lothar and policewoman Lydia, notice that Kottek, who has always been healthy, gradually loses his memory and at times maneuvers into dangerous situations. However, when Kottek dies, a decision has to be made. Mara Schindler tells this subtle story about the orphan Krempe, Grandpa Kottek and the friends in the village with a poetic lightness and great idealism. She speaks directly to the reader, pulls him right into the middle of the action and asks the question:

Mara Schindler: "How important are parents? And maybe people for children who are not directly related can not be just as important? And that’s why with me, too, this village community, the friends, who are actually a substitute family and Krempe try to convey such a network, as parents usually do. And Kottek has always seen it in his wisdom, who of the entire residents would be the right partner for Krempe, namely Jakob in the first place."

With Mara Schindler you can rely on adults. At Sally Nicholls, however, they fail. The British author chooses for her novel "An island for us alone" the first person perspective in order to establish a close relationship between the readers and their main character Holly.

book excerpt "An island for us alone": "When people ask me: So your brother takes care of both of you? I usually answer: Well, yes, he takes care of me and I take care of Davy. Even though I’m almost a child myself, I have parental responsibilities as well as Jonathan."

Holly’s parents have died and her brother, the grown-up Jonathan, has given up his studies to feed the children. The three live rather poorly above a fries stall in London. Even though Holly naively and bluntly reminds the social workers of the financial difficulties of the small family, not much changes. But when her wealthy aunt Irene dies, it turns out that the siblings should inherit their jewelry. But no one, not even the obnoxious, avaricious Uncle Evan suspects where his wife, in her paranoid contempt, has deposited money, papers and the jewelry in question. And so begins an unusual treasure hunt, in which the energetic and self-confident Holly wants to reach her goal by all means, against all odds, especially that of the adults.

Freedom through the absence of parents

Without sentimentality, with dry humor and a lot of empathy, Sally Nicholls tells this realistic story, whose great strength is the solid cohesion of the siblings. They do everything together, even buying Holly’s first bra.

In their novel, the British author S. E. Durrant shows that many authors are currently trying to upgrade the absence of parents against the freedom that is now open to children "The sky over Appleton House", how deep the injuries and emotional deficits are, especially in foster children. The siblings Ira and Zac know that their mother lives somewhere but cannot or does not want to take care of her.

book excerpt "The sky over Appleton House": "Usually I don’t show my feelings, after all I’m the older one. Zac was standing in the hallway with that terribly sad expression he always has when grief wraps around him so tightly it looks like he’s going to suffocate. Then it always takes forever to get him out of it again."

J.K. Rowling also wrote the Harry Potter books (Image: picture alliance / dpa) (Wall to Wall Media Ltd)

From Ira’s perspective, the reader accompanies the two children to the dilapidated Skilly House children’s home in London. Despite friendly educators, nine-year-old Ira and her two-year-old brother always feel a sense of shame and inferiority. Many children leave Skilly House, but Ira and Zac have to stay until their first summer vacation with Martha Freeman in June 1989. The shy Martha has worked with children for years, but she is somehow unsure about dealing with Zac and Ira. Ira likes Appleton House, where she can paint and feel comfortable for the first time. Only Zac misbehaves, climbs on everything and destroys Martha’s rocking chair. Ira, who lacks any basic trust, now lives in the fear that Martha could send her home straight away. Ira cannot put aside this feeling of inner insecurity that she is not wanted or loved, and Martha invites the children to come back again and again. She tries to relieve the girl of the permanent responsibility for Zac and to make her realize that she also has a right to happiness and zest for life. Very close to Ira’s stream of thoughts, the reader understands what children who have never experienced the protection of parents sometimes have to make painful of themselves.

Parentlessness also plays a role in Harry Potter

J. K. Rowling also takes this topic in her world success "Harry Potter" on. She uses parentlessness to build an inner arc of tension, the outer takes magic. And only it causes Harry to establish a strengthening connection with his parents in his most difficult moment, the fight against the Dark Lord.

book excerpt "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire": "He knew it, because the person who appeared now was the one he had thought of that evening more than anyone else. The smoky shadow of a tall man with disheveled hair much to the ground. And Harry, whose arms were trembling now, looked back and looked into his father’s ghostly face. "Your mother is coming", he said softly. "She wants to see you It will be fine. Hold on."

Also in Nina Weger’s new children’s book "Heroes’ Club" The main characters live and learn far from home, but without magic in a traditional school. No parents appear in the popular genre of the boarding school novel. And the children enjoy their individual freedoms and often the happiness of friendship. Nina Weger’s main characters, who come from England, Paraguay and North America, are only girls with special skills.

Nina Weger: "One is particularly good at archery, the other sails fantastic, the third is a great rider. But they also have special intellectual skills. While Pina is a nature watcher, Flo is a strategist, a great planner, and Blanca is, yes, I would say, the brave daredevil who reacts at lightning speed when in danger. And together, of course, you can climb dark vaults, you ride at night in the forest, you have to climb into a cave, you have to dive. In principle, it is the classic adventure that we all want. We come into situations where we have to prove ourselves, where we can try ourselves out and deal with dangerous situations and emerge strengthened from them."

book excerpt "Heroes’ Club": "What a darling?!" Blanca clenched her fists. "I am here at this school because our family treasure is somewhere here. Or at least the key to it. Do you actually know how exhausting it is to play the good girl all the time??! "I don’t care at all now", interrupted Flo. "I would rather like to know why my little sister disappeared and what you and this darling have to do with it!"

The three girls must now find out together where Charly, Flo’s sister, has gone and, above all, what the kidnappers actually want. Of course, no adult is consulted, because this adventure belongs to the clever girls all by themselves.

Nina Weger: "To be honest, in history I have let the adults, including the educators, out pretty far. I find it more and more exciting when children interact with each other and face the problems on their own and deal with them alone without adults. Basically, I think it is very difficult for children in our world to move freely and to conquer, even recapture, spaces that are not occupied by adults."

Nina Weger’s exciting and fast-paced story is an entertaining mix of boarding school, adventure and detective novels. The author certainly idealizes the independent life in the boarding school, and yet she always stays on the Ground of real facts.

Today children in stories do not necessarily have to move away from the family context to act autonomously. However, each writer has greater narrative latitude if his heroes have no parents. The literature offers young readers a wide range of offers, on the one hand they can meet the strong, independent child or the child without protection and support, who finds his own way despite adversity.

Book info:

Astrid Lindgren: "Pippi long stocking"
from Swedish by Cäcilie Heinig,
Oetinger Verlag, Hamburg 2007, 144 pages, 12.95 euros,
978-3-7891-4161-4

Charles Dickens: "Oliver Twist"
from the English by Susi Haberl,
Arena Verlag, Würzburg 2016, 237 pages, 8.99 euros,
978-3-401-06800-8

Kurt Held: "The red Zora and her gang"
Fischer Treasure Island, Frankfurt a. M. 1994, 552 pages, 14.90 euros,
978-3-596-80013-7

Mara Schindler: "Brim, Kottek and the thing with Misses Schulz"
rowohlt rotfuchs, Reinbek near Hamburg 2017, 189 pages, 12.99 euros,
978-3-499-21770-8

Mark Twain: "Tom Sawyer’s Adventure"
from the American by Lore Krüger,
Diogenes Verlag, Zurich 2002, 327 pages,
978-3-257-00891-0

S. E. Durrant: "The sky over Appleton House"
from the English by Katharina Diestelmeier,
Königskinder at Carlsen Verlag, Hamburg 2017, 240 pages, 16.99 euros,
978-3-551-56030-8

Nina Weger: "Heroes’ Club"
Oetinger Verlag, Hamburg 2017, 208 pages, 12.00 euros,
978-3-7891-0465-7

J.K. Rowling: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
from the English by Klaus Fritz,
Carlsen Verlag, Hamburg 2000, 767 pages, 24.99 euros,
978-3-551-55193-6

Sally Nicholls: "An island for us alone"
from the English by Beate Schäfer,
dtv series Hanser, Munich 2017, 216 pages, 12.95 euros,
978-3-423-64028-2

Annika Thor: "Curtain up for Johanna!"
from Swedish by Birgitta Kicherer,
Urachhaus Verlag, Stuttgart 2017, 240 pages, 14.99 euros,
978-3-8251-7971-7

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