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No and Me by Delphine de Vigan (view source)
Revision as of 13:10, 26 August 2020
, 13:10, 26 August 2020no edit summary
Oh, ''No and Me'' ticks all my boxes. I was always going to love it, right from the get go. Its central character is a bookish child who finds it difficult to fit in. There's a genuine kitchen sink drama going on at home. The background themes are all about strong social issues, especially homelessness and equality of opportunity. There's been a great deal of buzz about how unusual and even unique it is. And, happily, it fulfilled all my expectations. It's sweet on the outside and tough on the inside. It's beautifully observed and it doesn't feel the need to wrap up every teensy tiny loose end. Instead, it leaves us with pause for thought.
It's such a clever book too - Lou veers wildly between reliable and unreliable narrator, as her precocious intellect gets many things right and her pre-pubescent heart gets things completely wrong. As a mother, I found seeing her try so hard to make things right utterly heartrending but I can imagine younger readers finding everything she does and says making makes complete sense. It's made the transition across the Channel remarkably well - French mores are very different to British ones and while Lou, No and the others are unmistakably French, the emotional landscape they inhabit isn't strange at all. And George Miller's translation is pitch -perfect.
This book speaks to coming-of-age, to family dynamics and to the solitary nature of addiction, and yet it doesn't feel like a book about individuality. It never loses sight of the social and moral issues it explores and, as it juxtaposes a lonely home with homelessness, it lifts itself into one of those singular books that absolutely anybody can read and be touched by. A great deal of rot is talked about crossover fiction that can be read by child and adult alike, but this truly is a genuine example.
Bloomsbury are is bringing out both adult and teen editions (I'm reviewing the teen version here) and I hope this gets ''No and Me'' the wide readership it thoroughly deserves because it really does speak to us all.
Recommended.
My thanks to the good people at Bloomsbury for sending the book. We also liked [[Underground Time by Delphine de Vigan]].
If you'd like to explore more French writers, we also loved [[Dog by Daniel Pennac]] - dogs need homes too, you know. Our favourite homeless character in all of children's literature is, of course, David Almond's [[Skellig by David Almond]].