A slightly strange book, in the way that French films are often odd to English sensibilities. The narrator is a highly intelligent, rather isolated high school student in Paris. Her mother is very deeply depressed following the death in infancy several years ago of her younger daughter. Her father desperately tries to hold things together. Lou, the narrator, befriends a young homeless teeneger, No, partly so she can complete a school assignment on homelessness. As their friendship deepens, the family beome implicated too. Is this then a feel-good novel in which everyone lives happily ever after? You'll have to read it to find out. It's touching, enlightening, bittersweet. ( )

In this very generous and compassionate novel, Vigan explores homelessness through the unlikely friendship of two teenage girls, No, broken living on the streets and Lou, living at home, both abandoned by their mothers, either physically or emotionally.
Lou, precocious and belonging to no social sphere, is able to reach out to No and bridge those unspoken barriers that exist in our many complicated social layers. With Lucas, also abandoned by this mother and living alone, they try to build their unique, safe haven despite grown-ups and rules. It is an experiment of sorts but one that has too many challenges - from the material, to the emotional and psychological, nothing is as linear as we would wish and little Lou has to come to this conclusion through experience rather than through books.
Touching and hopeful, this is a heart-warming coming of age story with difficult lessons.

I didn't love the translation - very British, I could easily read the French through the words. Maybe a good adaptation for a European audience, less so for an American one. ( )

Proprietario: Cristina Bolelli
Prestito: Schranz

Proprietario: Cristina Bolelli
Prestito:

I'm discovering so many Y.A. novels that are the equal of "grown up" books. I've read some without realising the intended readership was teenagers (e.g.The Book Thief). Never found them to be 'dumbed-down' so the only difference that I have noticed is the age of the protagonists. The story of a slowly developing friendship between the narrator and a very special homeless girl No (shockingly not her real name), this YA novel pulls no emotional punches. Like Nick Hornby's How to be Good, No and Me asks what can I do on an individual and personal level, to help the homeless. ( )