Original title: O hvězdách víš h*vn*
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher:
Host, 2024
ISBN: 978-80-275-2195-1
Pages: 416
Awards:
Humbook Awards – Czech Debut of the Year 2024
Rights sold to:
Germany (Anthea Verlag)
Have you ever fancied someone on the bus and thought about reaching out to them?
Marky, a straight-shooting teenager with his own sense of humour, addresses a girl he doesn’t know on the bus, triggering a countdown without realizing it. Valerie is self-confident and fun. But behind the glowing Instagram profile is a girl still trying to find herself. They reach the joint conclusion that secondary school isn’t as it appears in TV series and books: hotties aren’t always cool, good boys can be toxic, not all grand gestures are romantic and not every intimate moment is magical. Life begins to make more sense – until it stops making sense altogether.
As Marky’s grand ideas crumble, he can’t fail to notice that something far worse is happening to Val. The clock is ticking. The evening will soon be upon them.
Kateřina Šardická, the book’s editor, says: ‘An innovative debut that is a fresh take on the YA genre. Marky’s narration is brash, funny, exciting, and, above all, incredibly realistic. What teenage boys truly think about…’
“It’s a young adult novel, something like Sex Education or Euphoria. I wish I had read a book like this when I was a teen. The main character is very emotionally driven and that would have helped me back then. The central theme is forming relationships—first love, sex. But it’s also very much about the relationship with parents and the environment we come from. About how we forget it, and maybe only realize its impact once we lose it.”
Jan Dlouhý, Radio Wave
“A generation with brains ‘eaten away by silicon’ has finally gotten its generational novel. Petr Hanel’s debut You Don’t Know Sh*t About the Stars has a real shot at becoming a hit on the Czech young adult scene—and definitely beyond it, too. If you want to revisit your own teenage confusion, you won’t find a better opportunity.
(…)
There aren’t many novels about adolescence in contemporary Czech literature—at least not ones you’d confidently recommend to demanding teenage readers. Especially since, in this age group, completely different activities tend to ‘trend’ than the supposedly ‘boring’ act of reading.
But Hanel’s new work has a chance to break through. And at the same time, to speak to older generations—those who want to understand their children better, or simply remember their own messy, awkward, and emotional teenage years, just like Marky’s.”
Irena Hejdová, Deník N
