Why We Took the Car
First German edition cover | |
| Author | Wolfgang Herrndorf |
|---|---|
| Original title | Tschick |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Travel, young adult, adventure |
| Set in | Berlin, Germany |
| Publisher | Rowohlt Verlag |
Publication date | 17 September 2010 |
| Publication place | Germany |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 256 |
| OCLC | 1124388900 |
| Preceded by | In Plüschgewittern |
| Followed by | Sand |
Why We Took the Car (German: Tschick [ˈtʃɪk]) is a youth novel by Wolfgang Herrndorf first published in German by Rowohlt Verlag in 2010. The English edition, translated by Tim Mohr, was published by Scholastic in 2014.
It deals with the unconventional friendship between a 14-year-old middle class boy and a Russian late repatriate youngster. The novel was awarded with the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Children's Literature Award) as well as the Clemens-Brentano-Preis in 2011. In 2012, it was also awarded with the Hans Fallada Prize. It was published in over 25 countries and sold over 2 million copies in Germany alone until September 2016.