Spare and disturbing, Belgian author Moeyaert’s (It’s Love We Don’t Understand
) novella makes few concessions to readers. American audiences will be grateful for the jacket copy, which identifies the setting as Belgium in the summer of 1939 and explains that the protagonist, 10-year-old Bing, misses his older brother, Mone, who has been drafted into the army; the information can only be intuited from very close attention to the text. Bing shares a dark secret with local soccer star Dani Bennoni. Bing uses this to try to force Dani to teach him to play soccer; he hopes that Mone will return to “a brother he can finally play soccer with.” When Dani refuses, Bing sets up an argument between Dani and village girls. Events unfold quickly and are told mostly in dialogue, from Bing’s point of view. The revelation of Dani and Bing’s secret—that Dani pays Bing to pull down his trousers—feels explosive, all the more so because it is handled as elliptically as every other development. Not a casual read, this may be best reserved for those interested in the art of story construction. Ages 14-up. (Apr.)
