"The content of my books should be right"

The theme of the Science Year 2026 is "Medicine of the Future". In line with this, the House of Science at the University of Siegen is offering school readings on the topic of "Mental health as reflected in current youth literature" in 2026. The Siegen-based children's and young adult literature expert Dr. Jana Mikota is in charge of selecting the authors. The project is once again sponsored by the Christa-und-Dieter-Lange-Stiftung. Jana Mikota: "Mental health, mental health or resilience - these terms have played an important role in social discourse since the pandemic at the latest. It's about the question of how to overcome the problems of the present. On the one hand, children and young people experience social crises and are confronted with complex problems such as the war in Ukraine or right-wing radicalism on an almost daily basis; on the other hand, they also experience pressure and conflict within their peer group: staging on social media, bullying in the school playground, judgment of their body or clothing. But what else can children's and young adult literature do? Childhood/childhood patterns are told in many different ways and readers encounter different heroic figures in the literary world who can be role models, but who can also strengthen them and give them courage."

To kick off the new series, author Nina Weger was a guest in Siegen and at Bertha von Suttner Comprehensive School in December 2025. She read from her young adult novel "When my brother became a whale" to Year 7 pupils. In her book, the author tackles the difficult and complex subject of dealing with coma patients. The story: Bela's older brother falls into a vegetative state after a traffic accident. "Out of therapy", he is discharged home. There, the pediatrician asks the family what should happen if Julius were to contract a serious infection, for example. Bela and Julius' parents are at odds over the answer. The mother is inclined to say goodbye to her son. The father does not want to stop fighting for his life. Bela sets out in search of a clear answer to this question, which is so fundamental for his brother.

Nina Weger: "The content of my books should be true." That's why the author researches content very meticulously. For her, every story needs an introduction, main section and conclusion. With this structure, it is not too difficult to write a story. What's more, she plans and describes her protagonists down to the smallest detail. This ensures that the plot and the characters are stringent. "Writing and reading are different things," says the Hanoverian. She takes speech and acting lessons for her readings. This enables her to captivate her mostly young audience over a fairly long period of time.