No and Me by Delphine de Vigan is a fiction book about a thirteen-year-old girl’s school presentation that changes the lives of her falling-apart family.
The main character, Lou Bertignac, is at the top of her class, but ever since her six month old sister died, Lou’s family has been in a vulnerable state. Lou’s mother is distant and hardly talks to her, and her father worries about Lou’s school life.
When asked about her presentation topic, which she forgot, Lou can’t let down her class reputation and comes up with the first thing that pops into her mind: The homeless.
Now Lou has to forget her vulnerability and strike up a conversation with No, an eighteen-year-old homeless woman. But when Lou finds out No is addicted to drugs and alcohol all she thinks about is keeping No safe and has to sneak away from her parents to see her.
This book, originally written in French, is told from Lou’s perspective. I would recommend this book to students in seventh or eighth grade as the protagonist in this story is thirteen years old and some topics discussed in this book are quite mature. Overall, I enjoyed this book because of the unpredictable plot changes. Throughout this book, the reader develops a connection to the characters and starts to care about the characters and what happens to them, which helps to enjoy the story more.
