Shortlisted for the prestigious Sheffield Children's Book Award 2011

Deeply moving, this is the touching story of two teenagers from very different backgrounds whose friendship raises huge questions about what concepts of home and family really mean. Lou is bright and successful at school but her home is unhappy and she has always been an outsider. Maybe that’s why she decides to do a project on the homeless and so meets No. Gradually the two girls find out more about each other and their lives begin to touch. The unexpected results are delicately and intelligently explored.

Synopsis

Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160 and a good friend called Lucas who gets her through the school day. At home her father cries in secret in the bathroom and her mother hasn't been out of the house properly for years. But Lou is about to change her life - and that of her parents - for good, all because of a school project she decides to do about the homeless. Through the project Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their friendship grows, Lou cannot bear that No is still on the streets when she goes back home - even if it is to a home that is saddened and desolate. So she asks her parents if No can come to live with them. To her astonishment, her parents - eventually - agree. No's presence forces Lou and her parents to finally face the sadness that has enveloped them. But No has disruptive as well as positive effects. Can this shaky, newfound family continue to live together? A tense, brilliant novel tackling the true meanings of home and homelessness.

Reviews

'Well-structured, with moments of tenderness and truth about family life and home, inadequate parents and neglected children, No and Me is honest (as revealing and insightful about Lou and home life as it is about No and homelessness) but also at least partially reassuring'
The Independent on Sunday

'A thing of poetic beauty'
The Times

'There is no doubt that all ages will find much to relish in this deceptively simple tale that is touching and enlightening'
The Herald

'Lou's transparent narrative at times naive, at times profound marks this apart as something special'
The Sunday Telegraph

About the Author

Delphine de Vigan is the author of several novels, including Jolis Garcons, Soir de decembre and Les heures souterraines. No and Me is her first novel to be published in English; it was a bestseller in France (100,000), where it was awarded the Prix des Libraires (The Booksellers' Prize) in 2008, and also a bestseller in Italy (50,000).George Miller is a regular translator for Le Monde diplomatique's English-language edition. He is also the translator of Conversations with my Gardener by Henri Cueco and Inside Al-Qaeda by Mohammed Sifaoui. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation