The Rules of Three

The Rules of Three from the "Great Survivalist Handbook" state: to survive, we make decisions in three seconds. Our brain can last without oxygen for three minutes. In extreme conditions, a person can survive for three hours. Without water, we can last three days. And without food, three weeks.

These rules Tvan memorized: they will surely come in handy for him in a snowy fishing village in Iceland, where he and his sister Linda are being taken by their mother and grandmother to visit great-grandfather Kas. But that is just an excuse; in reality, they want to persuade the old man to come with them, as he is sick and cannot take care of himself. However, great-grandfather Kas has his own opinion on the matter and has devised an escape plan to the mountains. Tvan faces a difficult choice: to help great-grandfather Kas escape or to betray him by telling their mother and grandmother everything. If he teaches great-grandfather the Rules of Three, perhaps he will manage to carry out his plan?

The novella by Marjolein Hof, "The Rules of Three," is a poignant and candid conversation with all generations about life and death, about how to let go of loved ones when they feel it is time to leave, and about how to accept the inevitable. In 2014, the novella received the prestigious Wouterje Pieterse Literary Prize for the best children's book in the Netherlands.