Two outcasts, one stolen Lada, and a summer that rewrites what family means.
Who drives the story
A lonely 14-year-old from Berlin-Marzahn with an alcoholic mother and a neglectful father, mocked as a psycho at school. He wants to be seen; a stolen Lada and a strange friend finally grant him a summer worth talking about.
The new classmate, a late repatriate from Russia who shows up drunk and gets excluded like Maik. He steals a Lada, drags Maik toward Walachia, takes the blame in court, and confesses he is gay on the road.
A tomboyish, street-smart runaway found at a dump, heading to Prague and a half-sister. She cleans up, borrows Maik's clothes, shares the mountain vow, and later writes asking to visit and repay a kiss.
The Serbian beauty queen Maik secretly loves, whose birthday party excludes him. Her sudden interest in his adventure after the summer shows how quickly status flips.
An alcoholic mother repeatedly sent to rehab, and a father who leaves on a 'business trip' with his assistant and later abandons the family. The pool scene turns their dysfunction into something Maik can finally face.
Also in the story
The senile last inhabitant of a brown coal mining crater, who greets the boys with an airgun and lemonade, and hands them a foul-smelling bottle along with his memories of camp and front.
How they are connected
Andrej Tschichatschow (Tschick)Maik Klingenberg
The new classmate, a late repatriate from Russia who shows up drunk and gets excluded like Maik.
She cleans up, borrows Maik's clothes, shares the mountain vow, and later writes asking to visit and repay a kiss.
She cleans up, borrows Maik's clothes, shares the mountain vow, and later writes asking to visit and repay a kiss.
The Serbian beauty queen Maik secretly loves, whose birthday party excludes him.
Maik's parentsMaik Klingenberg
The pool scene turns their dysfunction into something Maik can finally face.
Go deeper
Friendship as rescue · The adult world's hypocrisy · Family you can't sink · First love, revised
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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