AMEN (AMEN)

Anuša, Marina, Eva, and Nataša, whose initials form the Romani word AMEN - WE, are ride-or-die girlfriends. Except for the youngest, Nataša, they are finishing primary school and deciding what to do next. They still meet every day at the White Mound in Rokycany, where they dream of becoming a famous singer or driving a sports car, but adulthood is just around the corner. They experience their first loves and their friendship is put to the test more than once. They struggle with everyday reality, whether it be the factory, vocational school, East Germany, or a Slovak settlement. But they never lose their sense of humour or their faith in each other.

Ilona Ferková's proletarian, young-adult fiction for girls in Romani and Czech is exceptional both for its milieu of the Romani working class and its setting in the dance-filled 1960s in socialist Czechoslovakia. It takes place among young people who had to join the workforce right after primary school and who speak not only the colourful language of the streets, but also the romantic language of love. Above all, however, it is a story of a great female friendship.

Illustrated by Lela Geislerová.

In 2024, the book was nominated in the Zlatá stuha / Golden Ribbon children's books competition in the category of translated fiction.

This book has been published thanks to the kind financial support of the Government Office of the Czech Republic and Bader Philanthropies, Inc.