It's the first few days of the 2006 summer holidays when everything changes for 15-year-old Chris. While the World Cup is in full swing, Chris is kicked out of his team because he is too small. But he doesn't want to give up his dream of a professional career – and then Debbie, the most beautiful girl at school, on whom he has had a crush for ages, actually seems to be interested in him. Chris, who has always felt like an outsider, sees a chance to finally be a bit cool. Between parties, to which he sneaks off with his best friends and at which he dances for the first time, summer evenings on the roof of the old barn and hot days in the outdoor pool, Chris experiences an emotional rollercoaster ride. In search of himself, he dares to do it all and yet never forgets what is really important: friendship and the certainty that he has truly lived.

“Das Leben fing im Sommer an” (“Life Began in Summer”) is the first novel by football world champion Christoph Kramer. It takes us all back to that phase in life when every single moment harboured the possibility of changing our lives. Between moments of melancholy and exuberant happiness, he revives the charm of first love and the magic of true friendship – in a summer that will never be forgotten.