Hello everyone,

Some of you may have noticed I went on a little trip last week. Yep I was in my home country in France and leisurely behaved like a little tourist in Paris. I was however not looking for fashion but for books. French Young Adult (YA) novels to be more precise. I was inspired by this little lady called @lucythereader who you can read more of right here. This young lady has been championing the UKYA genre in the UK for a while now and it made me think back to my younger years realising that I could not really name a French YA author and wondered why. I then decided to go on a little investigation of my own and found 5 little beauties.

Starting with “Tant que nous sommes vivants” by Anne-Laure Bondoux, which is a love story between Hama and Bo who flee together and have to adapt to a new life who was previously full and abundant. Their life together take them to different places while their love is being put to the test. I was first of all attracted by the cover but I also chose this as I am curious to see the French flavour applied to a story that may have been told many times.

Let’s now go to “Frangine” by Marion Brunet which follows the story of a family where Mum & Dad are actually, Mum & Mum. First of all I have to thank @MargotRemond from Gibert Joseph in Boulevard St Michel who recommended this read. I have to say however, although our society is thankfully more familiar with “the same sex couple having a family” concept, I am surprised I have not really sought out literature which would give me more of an insight. I am pretty sure that I will find out there is absolutely no difference. Why? Because a family is simply a family. I am just glad I am in for a good read.

My next selection is “Broadway Limited” by Malika Ferdjoukh, set in New York in the 1940s and tells the story of Jocelyn Brouillard a talented pianist who is the only guy staying in a youth hostel full of girls with the same aspirations of making it big as dancers and actors on Broadway.

My last selections came as a recommendation from Nathan aka @bouquinsenfolie from http://www.lecahierdelecturedenathan.fr/ and are Book 1 & 2 of the “Phaenix” series by Carina Rozenfeld, author who you will probably hear about very soon especially if you are a fan of acclaimed author of the “Night School” series C.J. Daugherty.  Both ladies have decided to team up and wrote together the highly anticipated title and soon to be released “The Secret Fire”. 

“The Phaenix” is the tale of a young couple who since the beginning of time have not only loved each other but have also been the two halves to the mythical phoenix bird which will be reborn from its ashes…But they have forgotten their past lives and are now seperated.

I am quite excited at the prospect of discovering all these authors. One thing however, which I think would potentially put off potential young readers is the price of those books. They were all second hands and trust me when I say I still had to settle a hefty bill for those.

LaChouett