French Literature

The Love Report / BéKa & Maya

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
The Love Report
By: BéKa & Maya
Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 192
Published: June 13, 2023
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Dates Read: June 12, 2023
Format: Paperback

BBFs Grace and Lola try to figure out the mystery of romance by observing those around them at their middle school.

This was cute. Was it the best story I’ve ever read? No. But, it’s middle grade kids figuring out what love means to them – it’s cute. Plus, the illustrations are vivid and adorable to look at.

The girls learn about all types of other female characters and their history. Even learning about their prejudgement of some simply based on rumors. The boys’ characters aren’t as flushed out, but since this is the first book of a series, I’m hoping to know more about them later on.

This book was originally written in French and set in France. Even though it was translated into English, I still thoroughly enjoyed the background, especially the lunch/park scenes as those are very French.

I’ll be looking out for the next book of this series to read for sure. It’s adorable and there is much room for the characters to grow.

*Thank you Astra Publishing House and Publishers Weekly for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Man Without Shelter / Indrajit Garai

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment
Photo of a physical book with a cover of cement stairs and metal railing. The title of the book is, "The Man Without Shelter" and the author is Indrajit Garai.
A 4 Gold Star Rating
The Man Without Shelter
By: Indrajit Garai
Genre: Fiction
Number of Pages: 122
Published: September 6, 2022
Publisher: Independently Published
Dates Read: January 31, 2023 - February 1, 2023
Format: Paperback

Trigger Warnings: Homelessness, suicide, murder, mentions of abuse, sex trafficking, rape

Arnault has just been released from prison after two decades when new evidence finally proved he didn’t commit the crime. Lucy is a young lawyer who is determined to help Arnault in his journey to full freedom.

The writing in this novel was a bit different for me. I’ve read a lot of Japanese translated books and some Dutch and Swedish, but I haven’t read many from France. That being said, the writing does dive into a lot of French politics and policies, especially about the homeless/unhoused population.

As a librarian, it was interesting to me to see how Paris’ homeless population was portrayed in this novel. The unhoused are many of my frequent patrons, so I hear and try to help with their struggles as much as I can. The circles one must overcome can’t be done without help: to get an ID, you have to have an address for 3 months, to have an address, you have to have a job in order to pay for address, to have a job, you must have an ID – and so the circle continues. 

Indrajit Garai does an amazing job at giving you characters who you root for page after page. Life wasn’t easy on Arnault, but he kept going and kept pushing and I wanted to know how the universe was finally going to give back to him what he deserved. The man had a tent where he lived with a geese couple and their chick and was content with it! And then with Lucy, even though she was on the complete opposite lifestyle as Arnault, we saw a lot of the world where people don’t care and were only out for themselves. I kept rooting for her that her eyes would be open to this other world (homeless/unhoused/migraint) and that it would change her for the better.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to a lot of my library coworkers for sure. It’s not the greatest, happy-go-lucky book on the shelf, but it shows honesty and a life of someone who has been down and just trying to get back up on their feet honestly.