This dissertation consists of three parts: the fourth chapter in my book Fotboll och frihet«. Studier i Max Lundgrens författarskap (Football and Freedom. Studies in Max Lundgren's Authorship), 1987, and the two studies that this volume contains: En undersökning av tillvaron. Gunnel Beckman's ungdomsroman Tillträde till festen (An analysis of existence. Gunnel Beckmans novel for young people, Tillträde till festen /Admission to the Feast/) and Barnbokskritik i förvandling. Debatt om litteratur och ungdomsläsning 1966-1970 (The transformation of children's literature reviews. The debate concerning literature and young people's reading 1966-1970). The time of the youth revolt, the late 1960s, with the year 1968 as an almost mythical period, is portrayed as part of an explanatory model for the three studies. In 1968, Max Lundgren received the Nils Holgersson Plaque for his books for young people Pojken med guldbyxorna (The Boy With the Golden Trou­sers) and Åshöjdens bollklubb (Åshöjden Football Club). I show through my interpretations of the above mentioned and Max Lundgren's other books of this time, that the texts hold an existential concept of freedom; life is not totally determined, man has a certain amount of choice. Through my interpretation of Gunnel Beckman's well-known youth novel from 1969, Tillträde till festen (Admission to the Feast) I show how the content of the story changes, in the same way as in the work of Max Lundgren, from that of the fear of death to that of the conditions and possibilities of existence. The late 1960s can be described as a golden age for Swedish literature aimed at young people thanks to Max Lundgren, Gunnel Beckman, and other authors like Hans Eric Hellberg and Sven Wernström. The debate centered a- round children's literature was at this time affected by the ideologies that were prevalent, but the critics of children's literature also showed a con­tinuous interest in aesthetic and educational aspects. / <p>Författaren beskriver sin avhandling som en sammanläggningsavhandling.</p><p>Till avhandlingen hör även kapitel 4 i boken Fotboll och frihet : studier i Max Lundgrens författarskap (Nr 25 i Skrifter utgivna av Svenska Barnboksinstitutet) författad 1987 av Lena Kjersén Edman.</p> / digitalisering@umu