I loved this story which takes you on the ups and downs of No's chaotic life

Lou Bertignac comes up with a project on homelessness simply to appease her teacher. She doesn't want to do a presentation. In fact she hates being in front of a group. Who was she to know that this decision would affect the entire rest of her life?

Lou meets No at a train station and they begin a very tentative relationship with one another. No is 18 years old, five years older than Lou, and is a part of the homeless community. As their relationship progresses into more of a friendship, each girl is given a glimpse at the other's life through what they share with one another.

What I really enjoyed about this story was Lou, the main character. Lou was a sweet, intelligent and socially awkward girl when the story began and it kind of reminded me of myself at her age. Shying away from the boys, keeping to herself, making sure she stayed off the radar to keep others from talking about her. I really loved Lou's character. As Lou progresses through the book, her eyes are opened by No's predicament. No becomes less of a project to Lou, and more of a mission. It is endearing to see the need that buds between these two. They become part of one another.

Unfortunately I can't elaborate too much more without spoiling the story, but I will say that this book is worth a read. If you are worried that you might not enjoy this book, I can say that is a fairly short read. Give it a try, you might love it!

This wasn't quite what I expected.

Lou, thirteen years old, tells her story about how she got to know No, a homeless girl, and how their relationship developed in such a sober and dry manner that you are somehow baffled by it.

Still, the writing does not lack emotions or feelings and there is such beautiful prose behind this soberness; I had tears in my eyes reading this.

I was at first hesitant to read it because I'm not a big fan of translations. But since my French isn't as good as my English, I tried reading the translated version into the English language. The translator did such a great job; there were only few words or phrases where I was reminded that this was a translation, but other than that I loved reading it.

Lou is a clever and interesting character; she wants to see everything that goes on in the world: the good and the bad. She has her morals and she sticks to them; I really liked that about her.

No is a bit more difficult to describe; she had a hard life and that led her to live and roam the streets. What I didn't really like about her was how she didn't really try to change although everyone around her tried to reintegrate her into society. Maybe it was because of her history, but it seems true sometimes: some people just don't change.

There wasn't enough of Lucas in the story; I would have liked to know more about his story, his parents and his ambitions. Although I was quite happy that there wasn't that big romance hovering above him and Lou. In my opinion romance was not necessary in this storyline and I thought that the author did a good job of telling the story the way she did.

I loved the setting of Paris; it made me feel nostalgic and I loved the Frenchmen and the cafés and the Métro and just everything about it.

This was a very powerful contemporary YA novel and there was so much story within these 246 pages; I adored it.

Sad but not depressing, a realistic take on re-integration of a young woman into "society" after a life of foster care & homelessness. I was afraid it would shy away from the truth, but this book tells the truth, good and bad...