Johnny, My Friend

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (June 2008)

Johnny, My Friend, (originally Janne, min vän), is the first novel by the Swedish author Peter Pohl (1985.)

[edit] Plot summary

Johnny, My Friend is narrated by 12-year-old Krille. Krille is a naive youth, having grown up in a safe, supporting family in 1950s Stockholm. A new boy, Johnny, appears in Krille's life, and quickly impresses the neighborhood boys with his bicycling prowess.

His popularity aside, Johnny is a bit of a mystery, rarely saying anything about his life. The boys of the neighborhood do not know where he lives, and sometimes he disappears for long periods, only to turn up again without explanation. Krille determines to solve the mystery of Johnny.

Johnny has got a secret, a big one, and Krill's going to discover it...

[edit] Translations

The book has been translated to 11 languages:

  • Danish: Min bedste ven 1987
  • Norwegian: Janne min venn 1988
  • German: Jan, mein Freund 1990
  • Dutch: Jan, mijn vriend Johnny, My Friend 1991
  • French: Jan, mon ami 1995
  • Italian: Il mio amico Jan 1996
  • Estonian: Janne, mu sõber 1997
  • Japanese: 『ヤンネ、ぼくの友だち』 1997
  • Icelandic: Janni vinur minn 1997
  • Low German: Jan, mien Fründ 2000

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The film My friend Joe is horribly and barely based on the book.