Children's Books · Paperback

The voice of the city

Norwegian title: Storbyens stemme

Ingvar Ambjørnsen

Pelle and Prof are back in the capital. They’ve never claimed that East Oslo has been a walk in the park, but now the problems are lining up. Kids are running around with knives — and using them. Gangs are fighting dirty, and the street violence is spreading across the city. For Prof, the problems are of a more personal note, when his girlfriend Jorunn dumps him for Jarle, an underground poet sensation. Prof is furious and heartbroken, and gets involved with a dangerous gang. When there’s a break-in at Jarle’s apartment, where his computer is broken and the disks with his poems are stolen, everyone naturally suspects Prof. Who else has a motive? Pelle gets his hands full trying to prove Prof’s innosence, but old cases resurface and the boys have to get to the bottom of a drug murder.

The voice of the city is a book about house parties, drug murders, gang conflicts, computer fixing, and heartbreak. There are many threads, but Ambjørnsen ties them all together expertly.