Between the Bookcovers

Author: Delphine de Vigan
Published: August 3, 2010
Pages: 256
Rating: 3/5 Stars


Review:

Lou is a precocious, introverted teen with an IQ of 160 living in Paris. Her mother is in a deep depression since the crib death of a younger sibling and her father is just trying to keep the family together. Lou attends school with much older teens and feels lost and out of place. When she begins to research a paper on the homeless she meets Nolween (No), an 18 year old homeless teen who has been neglected most of her life and is lost and alone. Eventually No moves in with Lou and her parents but her alcohol and drug use cannot be cured with their kindness.

The book explores the relationship between these two unlikely friends and how each affects the others lives. One particular quote also shows how the book addresses the problem of homelessness:

"We can send supersonic planes and rockets into space, and identify a criminal from a hair or a tiny flake of skin, and grow a tomato we can keep in the fridge for three weeks without getting a wrinkle, and store millions of pieces of information on a tiny chip. Yet we're capable of letting people die in the street" (p. 72).

This is a harsh look at life on the street interspersed with moments of tenderness. The journey Lou and No go on to explore the world around them felt real and was well done, Their characters were well developed and grew throughout the book. I did feel that the ending was abrupt, but really there is no easy solution to the problem of homelessness, so maybe I was just hoping for a different ending. This book is a good look at how people are changed by those around them, and was an enjoyable if somewhat depressing read.

Rating: An interesting, worthwhile read