La famiglia X
(The X family) Book not yet available in English
Summary:
Michael is 13 years old and loves maths, because it has clear rules. Not much is clear in his life, which, after his parents’ arrest, is invaded by social services, an old lady, the mayor’s charming and rebellious daughter, and finally his foster parents, a couple of dads. [Back cover]
Edited by: Centro MeTRa - Università di Bologna (Italy)
Comment:
“The book touches on the delicate subject of same-sex parenting, inspired by a news story, the custody of a sixteen-year-old boy to a gay couple in Palermo. It was the first case in Italy, but not the only one: in fact, the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled that a child can grow up in a healthy environment also with same-sex parents, and that there are no scientific proofs or experience to the contrary. Narrated by the thirteen-year-old voice of the protagonist, Michael, La famiglia X (The X family) is the story of his second life, which begins after his parents’ arrest for drug dealing and his following entrusting to Davide and Enea, two men. This turn of events does not fail to provoke heated protests in Girone, the small village where the story is set. While he struggles to save his precarious school year and stands by his friend Zoe in the environmental campaign to protect the town’s lake from a huge building project, Michael never stops asking himself questions and trying, with his distinctive mathematical approach, to find the ‘solution’ that explains what a family actually is. The X Family is a novel about the treasures hidden around us, in the people who live next door and we don’t even know, in the people we meet by chance and who will become our lives.” [Publisher’s website]
This well written short novel has many qualities: an engaging plot full of twists and turns, the narration of a difficult but not altogether negative story with clear and simple words, without moralistic or didactic intentions, the excellent representation of realistic and human characters. But one of the most interesting aspects that emerges from the reading is perhaps the vision of the family, which is not composed only of the parents, but of all the people who are part of the protagonist’s life and who each, in their own way, as in a puzzle, make up a piece of his existence. An invitation to broaden one’s perspectives and the very concept of care and love, which can manifest itself in infinite ways, all worthy and precious.