Bert och Boysen ( sv, Bert and the boys) is a diary novel, written by

Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson Anders Jacobsson (born 1963) and Sören Olsson (born 1964) are two Sweden, Swedish-born cousins who are writers of children's literature and young adult fiction. They are best known for their books about Sune series, Sune and Bert diaries, Bert ...

and originally published in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. It tells the story of

Bert Ljung The Bert Diaries are a series of novels written in the form of a diary, by Swedish writers Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson. The main character is a Swedish teenager called Bert Ljung, living in Öreskoga, a List of fictional towns in literature ...

from 27 August to 6 November during the

calendar year Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any o ...

he turns 12 during the autumn term of the 6th grade school in Sweden.

Book cover

The book cover depicts Bert and his friends standing at the schoolyard.

Plot

Bert begins the 6th grade, and is second oldest in his class afterLisa, and his friends soon start the

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

''Becka Boysen' to control the local candy trade. They are inspired by violent video films. Bert is together with Nadja, but Nadja more seems to show interest for playing the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

than hanging with Bert. Bert also wonders what she is doing with Rasmus, a guy she plays music with. Bert's grandmother meets a new man, Henry, and the Ljung family's car breaks apart. Several chapters close with "Kobåj-Kurt" stories.

References

{{Reflist 1996 children's books Interquel novels Bert books 1996 Swedish novels