What This Book Is About
Here is a mystery that has baffled humanity for over two thousand years: where do eels come from? Aristotle believed they emerged spontaneously from mud. Sigmund Freud spent months as a young biology student in Trieste, Italy, dissecting hundreds of eels and searching in vain for their reproductive organs. To this day, no human being has ever witnessed eels mating or giving birth.
Patrik Svensson weaves this centuries-old scientific puzzle together with a deeply personal memoir about his relationship with his father, a Swedish road worker who taught him to fish for eels in the streams near their home. The book alternates between chapters of accessible natural history—covering the eel's astonishing life cycle, its four metamorphoses, and its epic migration across the Atlantic to the Sargasso Sea—and quiet, luminous vignettes of father and son standing together by the water in the Swedish twilight. Winner of the August Prize (Sweden's most prestigious literary award), The Book of Eels is simultaneously a nature book, a meditation on mortality, and a love letter to the mysteries we may never solve.
Available at Popular bookstores, Kinokuniya, and the Singapore National Library.
Why UWC Chose This Book
This book defies genre in a way that mirrors UWC's interdisciplinary approach to learning. It is simultaneously science, history, philosophy, and memoir—showing students that the most interesting questions live at the intersection of disciplines, not within neat subject boundaries.
The eel's story is also a powerful metaphor for environmental stewardship. European eel populations have declined by over 90% since the 1980s, and Svensson makes students care about this crisis not through statistics alone but through storytelling that connects ecological loss to personal loss. For a school that values both scientific literacy and emotional intelligence, The Book of Eels models how to hold both at once.
Reading Level Guide
Too challenging at A1. Build foundations with graded readers first.
Right in the sweet spot. The alternating chapter structure lets you take natural breaks.
An easy read at B2. The content remains fascinating regardless of language level.
Other UWC Recommended Books for This Grade
Not sure if this book is right for your child? Take our free 30-minute English assessment to find their CEFR level, then choose books that match.