Language Swedish Awards August Prize of 2003 Adaptations Glowing Stars (2009) | Subject children and death Originally published 2003 Genre Children's literature Country Sweden | |
 | ||
Original title I taket lyser stjärnorna Children's literature I Miss You - I Miss You!, Adjö - herr Muffin, Spirit Walker, Goodnight Mister Tom, Secrets in the Fire | ||
In the Ceiling the Stars Are Shining (orig. Swedish I taket lyser stjärnorna, literal translation) is a Swedish novel by Johanna Thydell, published in 2003. The book is about thirteen-year-old Jenna Wilson, who is unpopular at school and whose mother is dying of breast cancer. The book won the prestigious August Prize as the best Swedish children's and youth's book of 2003.
A film adaptation, Glowing Stars, was released in 2009.
Plot summary
The film starts off with a girl, Jenna, who is seen doing household activities such as cleaning and shopping, and gradually it is revealed that her mother is sick and dying of cancer. Her daughter Jenna, who is in her mid-teens and has problems herself, gradually parts ways with her mother and grandmother, and makes friends with a girl she used to dislike. After a while, she starts to smoke, drink and even has sex as a way to forget about her mother's disease.
Eventually, Jenna and her mom reunite, shortly before the latter's death, when Jenna realizes how much she has missed her. At the end of the film, Jenna and her grandmother go to Thailand together, a thing Jenna has always dreamed of but originally involving her mother.