Beartown (novel)

Beartown
First edition (Swedish)
AuthorFredrik Backman
Original titleBjörnstad
TranslatorNeil Smith
CountrySweden
LanguageSwedish
SeriesBeartown series
GenreNovel
PublisherPiratförlaget (Sweden)
Simon & Schuster (US)
Publication date
2016 (Sweden)
2017 (U.S.)
Media typePrint
Pages418 pp (US)
ISBN9781501160769
Followed byUs Against You 

Beartown (original title in Swedish: Björnstad) is a novel by Swedish writer Fredrik Backman.[1] The novel, noted as "hockey literature",[2] centers on a declining youth hockey team in a small town. The story follows the events leading up to a violent incident involving two teenagers and the consequences that they face, the hockey players, their families, friends, and the community which has a long-standing reputation as a hockey town.[3][4][5] It is the first book in the Beartown series, followed by Us Against You and The Winners.

In 2018, the Rockingham County School Board removed the book from the reading list of McMichael High, a high school in North Carolina, when parents described it as "vulgar" and "graphic".[6]

  1. ^ "KIRKUS REVIEW: BEARTOWN by Fredrik Backman". Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  2. ^ Cowles, Gregory (2017-05-12). "A Different Kind of Sports Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  3. ^ "Dreaming of economic revival in a small Swedish town". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  4. ^ "REVIEW: 'Beartown,' by Fredrik Backman". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  5. ^ "In Fredrik Backman's 'Beartown,' hockey rules". USA Today. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  6. ^ Smith, Allison (2018-10-09). "NC high school pulls book 'Beartown' from honors class after parents complain". cbs17. Retrieved 2022-09-17.