author/illustrator: Éléonore Douspis
ages: 6+
58 pages
17.5 x 21.5 cm
Hardcover with 5 fold-out spreads and 2 die-cuts
La Partie
The Waves
About this book
A clever book exploring the theme of bullying through the friendship story of two schoolgirls.
Two young schoolgirls take turns recounting their view of the same situation. The first tells of a friendly, lighthearted relationship over the course of a summer, made up of games and dreams. Until the day school starts and her friend suddenly disappears.
The story turns upside down and the friend takes over the narrative. Echoing the former’s questions, she expresses the reasons for her absence, her self effacement, her unease. The image gradually becomes more explicit: the friend makes herself invisible in order to escape the bullying of her classmates.
Until the friendship and support of the first enables the second to escape her loneliness…
• Through an evocative narrative, this impressive book tackles the difficult subject of bullying.
• A hopeful message: friendship and the support of others can play a comforting part when they arise.
• The use of 5 flaps allows to create surprise effects, change the meaning of the story and make dream and reality coexist; the 2 die-cuts give shape to the girls’ relationship by superimposing their points of view.