Piglettes
Summary:
The narrator, Mireille Laplanche, is awarded bronze in the “pig pageant” organised by her fellow high school pupils after winning gold in the cruel competition two years in a row. Mireille, whose sense of humour never lets her down, decides to meet the other two winners, Hakima and Astrid. The three become firm friends and set out to cycle from Bourg-en-Bresse to Paris, paying their way by selling sausages. Their aim is to infiltrate the Elysée garden party. Mireille wants to meet her birth father there, Hakima wants to challenge the general she blames for the accident that cost her brother Kader, a soldier, his legs, and Astrid just wants to see her favourite rock band, Indochine, perform live at the event. Thus begins a crazy road trip that lets the girls prove there is much more to them than the way they look.
Edited by: Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
Comment:
A sparkling, original story that brings imagination and wit to the thorny issues of bullying, sexism, and body shaming at school. The three endearing heroines reject the shame and embarrassment their classmates try to force on them and set out on a crazy road trip, heads held high. Clémentine Beauvais never presents sport as a way of losing weight to conform to typical beauty standards, but rather as a way of reaching for the sky (and she readily writes about the pleasures of good food!) She also handles questions of disability, racism, and the military with considerable finesse. The novel cleverly and enjoyably juxtaposes various levels of language and types of discourse, such as journalism and trolling on social media. A hilarious, touching novel that foregrounds the importance of accepting our bodies just the way they are. Clémentine Beauvais translated the novel into English herself. It has also been adapted for the stage. It won several prizes, including the Prix Libr’à Nous ados in 2015 and the Prix Sorcières “Roman Ado” in 2016.