No and Me

Delphine De Vigan (author)

Bloomsbury, UK: 2010

ISBN: 9780747599838

Genre: realistic fiction

Issues: abuse, family, friendship, gifted, grief, poverty

Lou Bertignac is thirteen years old and in Yr11. With an IQ of 160, she's not your average student. A combination of crippling shyness, self-consciousness and extreme sensitivity means that Lou finds anything other than academic work somewhat painful. Challenging, one might even say. Then she meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets of Paris. Interviewing No for a school project, Lou becomes aware of the horrific extent of homelessness in her city, her country. Why is nothing being done? How can so many people ignore this enormous problem? Why does it have to be so hard for so many? While she can't solve the entire problem, Lou decides that she can at least take one small action and persuades her parents to allow No to move in with them. But Lou's mother is severely depressed and has hardly left the house for years. She barely even talks to Lou and her father. No is a catalyst and Lou and her family will never be the same.

A powerful novel, lyrically written, No and Me has the texture, layers and nuances of an exceptional painting. The reader is drawn into Lou's world, challenged to live with the constant demands of a brain that gives her too many questions and perspectives for a peaceful life; a brain that gives her the capacity to understand complex ideas and problems easily but not always be able to find the solutions for which she yearns.

‘One day Mrs Cortanze, a psychologist I saw for a few months, explained what ‘intellectually precocious' meant. ‘Imagine that you're an extremely modern car, equipped with a greater number of options and functions than most cars. You're faster and higher performance. You're very lucky. But it's not easy. Because no one knows exactly the number of options you have or what they enable you to do. Only you can know. And speed can be dangerous. Like when you're eight, you don't necessarily know the highway code or how to drive. There are many things you have to learn: how to drive when it's wet, when it's snowy, to look out for other cars and respect them, to rest when you've been driving for too long. That's what it means to be a grown-up.' I'm thirteen and I can see that I'm not managing to grow up in the right way: I can't understand the road signs, I'm not in control of my vehicle, I keep taking wrong turnings and most of the time I feel like I'm stuck on the dodgems rather than on a race track.' (p26)

Finishing (rather than ending) the narrative on a remarkably ambiguous note, de Vigan avoids predictable or simple solutions to any of the personal and interpersonal problems explored within this unusual story; she treats the reader with the respect she gives her characters. Few readers will ever look at a homeless person the same way again and maybe, just maybe, the world will be a better place as a result.

While a highly recommended novel that will surely win awards, be aware that sensitive readers will find this a difficult and at times distressing book to read. Although gifted readers will enjoy the skilful writing, it's probably best shared with a small group or family where issues and responses can be discussed openly in a safe environment.