According to the jury for the Hjärtans fröjd prize, the best youth novel published in 2025 was 'Allting mellan oss' by Nina Ivarsson. The Hjärtans fröjd prize is Sweden's only dedicated youth book prize, and this marks the sixth time it has been awarded. The prize is national and was established in 2020 by Region Blekinge.
'Allting mellan oss' is Nina Ivarsson's third youth novel published by Rabén & Sjögren. The novel is about two young women, Eddie and Jenni, who stumble into an intense love affair during a summer, but dark family secrets threaten their relationship. The jury was unanimous and consisted of author Per Nilsson and youth librarians Victoria Nore Johannesson and Paula Högström.
In its motivation, the jury stated that Nina Ivarsson writes with a confident style and personal language where not a single word feels superfluous, and everything is so well portrayed that the reader cannot resist being drawn into a story with an unpredictable ending. The jury also noted that despite having only published three youth novels, Nina Ivarsson has already established herself among the very biggest and most important Swedish authors in the genre. The prize is named after Blekinge author Per Nilsson's most read book 'Hjärtans fröjd' from 1992.
Nina Ivarsson said she was aware of the Hjärtans fröjd prize and previous winners, had a well-thumbed paperback of Per Nilsson's 'Hjärtans fröjd' at home, and found it special that her love novel won this prize, as it was something her nineteen-year-old self never expected but would have wanted. The Hjärtans Fröjd prize will be awarded on March 7 at 13:00 at Olofström's Kulturhus during Berättarkraft – Blekinge's literature and storytelling festival, where the Blekinge book fair also takes place.