Judith Eiselin
The Eyes of Jesleia (De ogen van Jesleia)
Fantasy Island
De ogen van Jesleia (The Eyes of Jesleia) is an original debut by Judith Eiselin. Eleven yearold Juliette writes a slogan for ‘The Toy Giant’ and wins a flight to Jesleia, an island in the Pacific. At first sight, it seems a dream tropical island but soon mysterious things begin to happen, she hears a mysterious buzzing and a secret language.
Guido, a boy of twelve with whom Juliette shares the prize, suspects that they are being spied upon. Because of her affected voice, spotless clothes and suspect behaviour, another girl there, Barbie-like Karlinka appears to be part of the conspiracy. Eventually, Juliette and Guido will discover the cameras which have been filming them for six weeks without their knowing it. Back home, fame awaits, but Juliette dislikes the hype and tries to escape it.
This novel criticises not only the manipulation of advertising – including trendy slogans like ‘Be a part of it!’ and ‘Your own dream island!’ – but also reality soaps like Big Brother.
The closer the reader comes to the denouement, the greater the suspense. The novel starts with Juliette writing her slogan: ‘I don’t sense any danger. I’m unaware of what’s going on. I have no premonitions, no idea.’ And from then on, there are ever more indications that the children are being spied upon.
Eiselin has managed to find a good balance in her language which is tough and contemporary, while avoiding cliches. She also uses contradictions to great effect, such as when Juliette sees television pictures of herself and thinks, ‘Everyone loves us. I never felt so lonely.’ Short, staccato sentences create a sense of urgency which increases the suspense. De ogen van Jesleia is a detective story coupled with an adventure story, written in a fresh style – a unique mix of Robinson Crusoe and a Big Brother parody.
Lieke van Duin
Publisher
Querido
Singel 262
NL - 1016 AC Amsterdam
TEL. +31 20 551 12 62
FAX +31 20 639 19 68
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.querido.nl
Publishing details
De ogen van Jesleia (2004, 232 pp)
Age: 10+
Biography
Judith Eiselin (1970) grew up with a love of children’s art and knew from the age of six that she wanted to become a writer. She completed a degree in historical and modern literature and wrote a thesis on Toon Tellegen. For ten years she wrote children’s books reviews for NRC Handelsblad and was a member of the Griffel Award jury and the Gouden Uil Award jury. She is currently working on several new books and, according to Eiselin, the most important ingredients of a successful children’s book are ‘liveliness, humour, striking, telling detail and a good build-up of suspense’.
Website: www.juditheiselin.nl
Quotes
Judith Eiselin has cleverly portrayed the world of television in which a mayor role is played by narcissism and where everything becomes ever more crazy, unique and shocking.
Tubantia
De ogen van Jesleia is a beautiful book. Eiselin has created a very subtle picture of the psychology of children around twelve years old. The writer has, furthermore, subtly managed to keep up the suspense.
NRC Handelsblad