Several major themes are touched upon, including: it’s okay to be different; first impressions aren’t always accurate; your elders can teach you a lot; not all dreams should be discounted; young children often have the same fears and insecurities as adults; direct communication and understanding are vital; family does not have to share bloodlines. Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is 77 years old and crazy. Standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus crazy. She is also Elsa's best and only friend.

Later-- she wrote a paper about her -great grandmother- from our family history. I was touched beyond words. Elsa is “different.” So is Granny (a major understatement). The book has been dinged by several reviewers as being unrealistic. Well, yeah, maybe, but sometimes that little sore point can be overlooked—like with this book. And I have to say, once it became clear the fantasy part plays a major role in understanding the whole meaning of Elsa’s journey, I decided to change my crappy attitude and go all in. By that point I even thought it might be possible for the tale to wring 4 stars out of me. The plot is unique and really quite profound. Elsa is sent on a “treasure hunt” by her grandmother that requires Elsa to meet everyone in their apartment building. There are specific reasons for Granny to do this. The task is not easy for Elsa, but it turns out to be seriously rewarding. The characters are diverse, very sympathetic, and memorable. I love these books about elderly people and their effect on young children who are “different.” Another thing—this story is quirky and is unlike any I have read before. Major points for that. Description: Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy. Standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa runs to her grandmother's stories, to the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas. There, everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. There are clear themes here, nominally: the importance of stories; the honesty of children; and the obtuseness of most adults, putting him firmly in league with the likes of Roald Dahl and Neil Gaiman. A touching, sometimes funny, often wise portrait of grief. * Kirkus *Heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure, this novel will charm and delight anyone who has ever had a grandmother. At this point too, I thought, my 12 year old needs to be in on this so, I let him listen to a few chapters and confirmed its a book for both young adults and adults. However, it is not long into the book when the fairly complex and very childlike fairytales seem to take over the real story. And one might be tempted to either skip the parts with the fairytale (which would prove tedious given how intertwined the fairytale parts are with the underlying real story) or give up reading the book altogether on the premise that for adults, the film (when it does come out) would be better tuned to keep adults engaged!! Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. But, when her grandmother dies, Elsa is left to cope with her parent’s divorce, her mother’s pregnancy, and her issues at school without her staunch supporter. Elsa is not only sad, but is also angry that her grandmother has abandoned her. I am glad I was gently nudged to read this book and I couldn’t have chosen a better time to read this one. After having read several books in a row with melancholy themes, this book brightened my mood significantly.

Grandmother is eccentric, a little nutty, a superhero.....both a sword and a shield. She is strong independent woman, who wants to say "I am sorry" to those she loves. I may write a full review at a later date, but this book just didn't contain the magic that A Man Called Ove had. Just before Granny dies she presses an envelope into Elsa's hand, and asks her granddaughter to deliver a letter.

Summary

This sounds quite different to my usual reads but I do like the sound of it. Fun and quirky Post a Reply In My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises, each character was one that took me by surprise during Elsa's journey throughout the novel. Tasked to deliver letters from her grandmother to the people who live in the same building as her, people who have been around Elsa her entire life, she uncovers one surprising thing after another; there are monsters living in the flat, heroes and even a Wurse, who is a little bit of both. And as the lines between her granny's imaginary Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas start to blur with the real world, Elsa discovers something incredible about those around her, something that even with all her wit beyond her years and excessive use of Wikipedia she hadn't realised before.