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No and Me

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 1,943 ratings · 328 reviews

Lou Bertignac a 13 ans, un QI de 160 et des questions plein la tête. Enfant précoce et fantaisiste, elle rencontre un jour, à la gare d'Austerlitz, No, une jeune fille SDF à peine plus âgée qu'elle. Elle décide alors de sauver No, de lui donner un toit et une famille et se lance dans une expérience de grande envergure menée contre le destin.

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Published (first published August 22nd 2007)

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Oct 29, 2012 Maja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Maja by: Catie

Shelves: 2012-favorites, contemporary-fiction, favorites, ya, reviewed-in-2012

This summer, I met a young girl from Croatia’s most war-affected city. She came here, on the other side of the country, to live in a trailer and work in a supermarket for very little money. It was just a lousy summer job, but to her, it was more than good enough. When at home, she lives with her father, barely scraping by, both of them unemployed throughout the year because there are no jobs where she comes from. She told me about growing up hungry and going to school with her stomach completely...more This summer, I met a young girl from Croatia’s most war-affected city. She came here, on the other side of the country, to live in a trailer and work in a supermarket for very little money. It was just a lousy summer job, but to her, it was more than good enough. When at home, she lives with her father, barely scraping by, both of them unemployed throughout the year because there are no jobs where she comes from. She told me about growing up hungry and going to school with her stomach completely empty. She told me how her mother refused meals to leave more for her, because she was still growing and she needed energy for her schoolwork. She told me how her parents took turns eating because there wasn’t enough for both. And she said it all with a big smile on her face, the smile of a person who refuses to be defeated.

I kept a brave face, but then I drove home and I cried for hours. I hugged my sleeping child and I swore that she’ll never experience anything similar. (I bet the girl’s parents made the same promise at some point, though, all parents do – and it scares me to death). But when I started thinking about things that could have been done to feed this girl when she needed it the most, things that SHOULD have been done, I felt deeply ashamed, even though back then, I was no more than a teen myself.

There’s really no point to this story, except that I felt it needed to be told. No and Me isn’t one of those books that try to convince you you’re equipped to save the world – you really aren’t, and neither am I. We do the best we can, most of us, and we live knowing it’s not nearly enough. And it’s because of that knowledge that we turn our heads the other way and try to protect ourselves from things we cannot change.

This is exactly why I don’t like reading contemporary YA. Things like bullying, abuse, even smaller family issues, make me feel hurt and powerless, and it’s something I tend to avoid at all costs. But No and Me is not one of those books. There’s something so very gentle about it because it doesn’t try to shock or hurt, nor does it try to change the reader in any way. It just is – it is a story, simple and beautiful, easy to read and even easier to accept, even while it’s breaking your heart.

In No and Me, a thirteen-year-old child genius Lou Bertignac interviews an eighteen-year-old homeless girl for a school project and subsequently decides to save her. She brings her into her home to live with her damaged family and treats her like a sister she’d lost when she was just a child. Lou Bertignac is an extraordinary character: understanding how her mind works (she has an IQ of 160) and how it reflects on her emotions was a challenge and a true delight. And of course she and I have a huge thing in common:

People who think that grammar is just a collection of rules and restrictions are wrong. If you get to like it, grammar reveals the hidden meaning of history, hides disorder and abandonment, links things and brings opposites together. Grammar is a wonderful way of organizing the world how you’d like it to be.

*sigh* I wholeheartedly agree.

This is the longest non-review I’ve written in my life, so I need to offer you an alternative. My friend Catie over at The Readventurer reads all these books I’m too much of a coward to pick up, and then she writes amazing reviews that are equal parts rational and emotional. She is my favorite reviewer in the world (and I’m not just saying that), and she’s the one who convinced me to read this book, so please check out her review if you can.

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Mar 08, 2013 Petra X rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2013-reviews

There are three people in this story. No, who is homeless, hopeless, untrusting and the natural ally of Luke, the rich and almost-bad boy. Two teenagers together. But he has a crush on Lou, who is years younger, too clever and naive only when it suits the story. And she is more the character used to reveal the story than a truly interesting heroine. The dark secret of the parents is sad, but banal. Their healing, the way they shake themselves off is what people do when they have guests, they mak...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Keertana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-that-linger, beautiful-prose, teary-eyed-reads, 2013-favorites

Rating: 4.5 Stars

No and Me is that book that you wish you had a time machine for; the one you want to go back in time and thrust to your young teenage self, begging them to read it because perhaps, if they do, they'll understand life a little better and won't make all the mistakes they will. It's the type of novel that whisks you away into a completely different world, but its prose isn't flowery like that of Laini Taylor; instead, it's a more subtle type of beauty where each and every phrase si...more

13 likes · like · see review

Feb 26, 2011 Nomes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, crushing-on-the-writing, hidden-gem-i-love-you-so, i-own, quietly-awesome, faves-of-2011

Ahhhh, this book is just CHARMING.

I had no idea what to expect or if No and Me would be my kind of read ~ I really didn't expect to LOVE it as much as I did. It's a really different read to most contemp YA's I've read lately ~ which could be because this is imported and translated from French.

I think this is the kind of book that some people will ABSOLUTELY ADORE and soak up and fall in love with. It may also leave other people scratching their heads and 'just not getting it'

I am in the FALLEN...more Ahhhh, this book is just CHARMING.

I had no idea what to expect or if No and Me would be my kind of read ~ I really didn't expect to LOVE it as much as I did. It's a really different read to most contemp YA's I've read lately ~ which could be because this is imported and translated from French.

I think this is the kind of book that some people will ABSOLUTELY ADORE and soak up and fall in love with. It may also leave other people scratching their heads and 'just not getting it'

I am in the FALLEN IN LOVE category :)

It's very much a book for people who appreciate literary fiction, lyrical writing and just poetic and gorgeously funny sentiments. This is due to the CHARMING and unique narrator, Lou ~ who has leapt on to a list of protags I ADORE.

I'm not going to go much into the plot (you should discover it for yourself) but it centres around Lou (who's 13 ~ but skipped two years of school and is with the 15 year olds) and No ~ who's 18 and homeless. I wondered if it would be too MG for me (with a younger narrator) ~ but it's the opposite ~ it could easily slip into adult sales with it's intelligent and gorgeous protag and it's outstanding prose. It really is a cut above in terms of YA literary fiction ~ I was continually pausing to re-read sentences and paragraphs and just to make sure I was not missing out on even one perfectly placed word.

Alongside Lou and No, there's Lou going to school (and the usual coming of age school stuff ~ parties and a crush ~ there's always a guy, hey ~ and assignments) and also Lou's parents ~ who I loved as characters. Lou's mum was beautifully handled ~ there's some painful family history and some mental illness and it was achingly told.

The plot unravels at a steady pace, gradually revealing secrets and also moving forward to a conclusion that makes you feel like you just don't know what is going to happen. (I really didn't ~ it could have gone so many different ways)

But it's not the plot that had me enthralled (although I was invested in the story). It was the writing. I felt like I could keep pausing to jot down half the book into my journal of favourite quotes. I haven't crushed this hard on writing for a LONG time ~ it was perhaps reminiscent of Maggie O'Farrell and Sonya Hartnett for me ~ authors who make me gasp and think and just revel in words and ideas and sentiments.

Overall ~ it's a hopeful book, it'll break your heart a little, it'll make you think. It's nostalgic of the teenage years and the hope and optimism that surrounds them. It celebrates wanting to change the world, believing you can while at the same time feeling completely swamped and disenchanted and wildly fluctuating between everything. It's about family and friendship and growing up. It's just lovelylovelylovely. Le sigh...
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Apr 07, 2011 Luana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

La copertina, è una bella copertina.
Il titolo, è un bel titolo.
Aver trovato in un libro che acquistai il segnalibro che pubblicizza 'Gli effetti secondari dei sogni' mi ha convinta a comprarlo, quasi si trattasse di un segno del destino.
Leggendo la quarta di copertina si scopre che l'autrice, Delphine De Vigan, ha vinto - grazie a questo romanzo - 'il prestigioso Prix des Libraires al Salon du Livre 2008.

A questo punto sorge spontanea la domanda: chi è che la De Vigane ha pagato per riuscire...more La copertina, è una bella copertina.
Il titolo, è un bel titolo.
Aver trovato in un libro che acquistai il segnalibro che pubblicizza 'Gli effetti secondari dei sogni' mi ha convinta a comprarlo, quasi si trattasse di un segno del destino.
Leggendo la quarta di copertina si scopre che l'autrice, Delphine De Vigan, ha vinto - grazie a questo romanzo - 'il prestigioso Prix des Libraires al Salon du Livre 2008.

A questo punto sorge spontanea la domanda: chi è che la De Vigane ha pagato per riuscire a vincere il premio? Con chi è andata a letto per meritarsi di essere insignita? Non che il libro faccia totalmente schifo, ma l'unico premio che gli avrei dato è Premio per 206 Pagine da Leggere in un'Ora di Tempo da Perdere.

La trama è banale, i personaggi inverosimili, la morale intrisa di un fastidioso e superficiale perbenismo. Il titolo mai fu meno azzeccato - ma di questo non si può imputare la colpa all'autrice in quanto il titolo originale 'No et moi' calza a pennello.

C'è la secchiona con un quoziente intellettivo da 160, un genio.
C'è il ribelle della classe, spavaldo, bocciato più volte del figlio di Bossi.
(Per chi abbia visto il cartone animato Rossana, capirà bene che i due personaggi provengono direttamente dal cartone giapponese, niente di più scontato)
Ci sono due famiglie, i loro irrimediabili segreti, la chiusura totale, l'incapacità ad esprimere il dolore.
(E a questo punto, non vi sembra di sentire un'eco che vi risveglia ripetendo 'Paolo Giordano, solitudine-ne-ne-ne, numeri primi-primi-primi)
Ovviamente c'è lei, il 'caso umano', la disperata, la montagna di merda sulla quale si accumulano tutti i problemi che affliggono tutti i protagonisti - cosa che accade sempre, del resto, nella vita reale che tutti si preoccupino per tutti (Thomas More era meno utopista -, No, una barbona.
La trama la scoprirete da voi - nel caso in cui vogliate spendere (buttare) 9€, quindi non vi racconto altro. Vi basti sapere che in scena non entrano personaggi, ma maschere. Maschere già viste, che non variano, i personaggi che popolano i romanzetti degli ultimi 10 anni. Complessi, depressioni, segreti.

Lo stile non rapisce, l'ho letto in due giorni perché in aereo avevo ben poco da fare e perché son solita leggere i libri sino in fondo - altrimenti come farei a demolirli quando non si salvano nemmeno sul finale? Ecco, l'ho detto, finale. Un finale sconclusionato, un finale, permettetemi la licenza poetica, m e r d o s o. Mentre il Lettore legge pensa 'Ma cosa sto leggendo?'. Vi assicuro, un fantasy è meno fantasioso di questa vicenda in cui nella Parigi del 2006/2007 una barbona viene accolta in casa da un genio (che poi, ne riparlerei di questo appellativo) con alle spalle una famiglia depressa.
Un vago amore adolescenziale, un amore impossibile (lei è una secchiona, lui un figo trasandato).

Tuttavia, De Vigane talvolta riesce a scrivere tre righe di seguito in maniera decente, colmi di congiuntivi e barlumi di consapevolezza riguardo la psiche umana.

Consigliato, a chi dovesse affrontare un viaggio in treno di 3 ore e non sapesse che cosa leggere di non troppo pesante.
Per tutto il resto, tenete quei 9€ saldi nelle vostre mani e provvedete ad un acquisto migliore - magari una buona pizza o un bell'uovo di Pasqua, visto che siamo nel periodo adatto.(less)

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May 15, 2011 DubaiReader rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ew-pm-bk-grp, 2011, young-adult

Poignant and precise.

This book was beautifully written, concise and to the point. Although aimed at a Young Adult audience, I felt it could easily cross over into adult reading - even to the extent that many of our more verbose authors might learn to get to the heart of things in far fewer pages.
You would never suspect that this is a translation and the references to areas of Paris often took me by surprise.

Lou Bertingac is only 13, in a class of 15 year olds. She has an IQ of 160 but lacks many...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Scarlet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-of-ya, lyrical-writing, made-up-stories-on-real-issues, awesome-protagonists, cover-craze, it-stays-with-you, best-books-i-read-this-year

4.5

“How do you find yourself at the age of eighteen out on the streets with nothing and no one? Are we so small, so very small, that the world continues to turn, immensely large, and couldn’t care less where we sleep?”

Four years ago, on my way home one night, I met a girl in the train. She was a kid really, selling cheap jewellery. I was standing by the exit, waiting to get down at the next stop. The train jerked, she dropped her stuff and I helped gather it all up – maybe that’s how we got tal...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Tancredi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: francesi

"Il professor Marin annota sul foglio rosa il mio nome, l'argomento della relazione orale, la segno per il 10 dicembre, così ha tempo per svolgere ulteriori ricerche, ricordi le indicazioni generali, non più di un'ora, quadro socio-economico, esempi, la sua voce si perde, il pugno di Lucas si è allentato, ho ali trasparenti, volo sopra i banchi, chiudo gli ochi, sono un granello di polvere, una particella invisibile, leggera come un sospiro."

Gli effetti secondari dei sogni è un romanzo difficile...more "Il professor Marin annota sul foglio rosa il mio nome, l'argomento della relazione orale, la segno per il 10 dicembre, così ha tempo per svolgere ulteriori ricerche, ricordi le indicazioni generali, non più di un'ora, quadro socio-economico, esempi, la sua voce si perde, il pugno di Lucas si è allentato, ho ali trasparenti, volo sopra i banchi, chiudo gli ochi, sono un granello di polvere, una particella invisibile, leggera come un sospiro."

Gli effetti secondari dei sogni è un romanzo difficile da commentare, perché a tratti scomodo e a tratti raffinato, a volte coinvolgente e a volte... no. Nel corso della lettura più e più volte mi sono ricreduto ed ho cambiato giudizio. E' bene premettere, dunque, che vi ho dato 4 stellette, ma una di queste è solo per lo stile, molto interessante.

La storia è abbastanza semplice, ma non per questo povera e piatta: Lou, ragazzina genio, asociale, che vive con una madre depressa ed un padre afflitto, scopre l'amicizia di una ragazza senzatetto, che darà vita a grandi cambiamenti. I grandi cambiamenti sono facilmente intuibili, e questo forse guasta un po'.

All'inizio mi ha ricordato forse un po' troppo L'eleganza del riccio: la stessa situazione di una ragazzina troppo precoce, lasciata a sé da genitori distanti ed opachi, che guarda il mondo dall'alto, senza capirci niente. Ma poi l'analogia è scemata, perché la focalizzazione s'è spostata altrove, ed allora è emerso chiaramente il tema principale: quello dell'abbandono.

E', davvero, un romanzo sull'abbandono: tutti i personaggi chiamati in causa ne soffrono. Lou si sente abbandonata, dalla madre depressa, dal padre che si rifugia nel lavoro. Dalla vita stessa, dal suo QI che non l'aiuta per niente. No, la ragazza senza tetto, anche lei soffre una serie di abbandoni. E così anche per Lucas, il ragazzo ribelle-ma-buono-dentro, lasciato solo dai genitori in una grande e inutile casa. Ma non è un romanzo generazionale, non mi sentirei di definirlo un romanzo adolescenziale, perché anche gli adulti soffrono un abbandono: la madre di Lou, è chiaro, soffre la perdita della figlia morta, soffre l'abbandono di se stessa, perché si è lasciata andare, incapace a reagire.

In tutto questo, credere che l'amicizia (arricchita dalle citazioni del Piccolo Principe) possa risolvere tutto è sbagliato: e se all'inizio si può credere ad un eccesso di buonismo, alla fine ci si deve ricredere, con un finale che lascia indubbiamente l'amaro in bocca.

Dunque, per me, il romanzo strappa la quarta stella per il finale, azzeccato, e per lo stile, ricchissimo, raffinato, con il suo ampio periodare ed i flussi di coscienza in cui si mescola il discorso diretto.(less)

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Aug 12, 2010 Tasha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

On the surface No and Me seems like a run of the mill Young Adult novel of a teenage girl dealing with both a family tragedy and growing up. Dig a little deeper though and this book is so much more than that, largely because of two factors. The first being the simple yet emotion filled writing style. The story is told not just from a first person point of view but it really did read as if an intelligent teen was retelling it - including those unique rambley off-topic moments, which all just adde...more On the surface No and Me seems like a run of the mill Young Adult novel of a teenage girl dealing with both a family tragedy and growing up. Dig a little deeper though and this book is so much more than that, largely because of two factors. The first being the simple yet emotion filled writing style. The story is told not just from a first person point of view but it really did read as if an intelligent teen was retelling it - including those unique rambley off-topic moments, which all just added to the character and effect of the book. In some ways it reminded me of Catcher in the Rye.

The second aspect of this book which made it unlike so many others was Lou herself. Her character was very much like the protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (Mark Haddon) in that she used intellectual means, such as mathematical problems, for coping with the emotions of every day life. I really liked how Lou was extremely intelligent but at the same time had issues functioning with normal life. At one point she states that she has an IQ of 160 but can't tie her own shoe laces. She doesn't socialise well and dreads the presentation she has to do in front of the class. She collects food labels to compare the ingredients and conducts various experiments at home just to satisfy her curiosity.

Through Lou we also get to know No, the homeless girl who eventually comes to live with the family, and Lucas a boy in Lou's class. No clearly has her own issues to deal with - living on the streets and then adapting to family life - as does Lucas. Lou and Lucas are complete opposites in their class at school. Lou is two years ahead and Lucas is two years behind. Lucas is the only one who really pays attention to Lou and it makes a unique friendship. There is also the interesting contrast between the naive Lou and the tough, streetwise No. all three are great characters in their own way.

Personally I really enjoyed No and Me but I can see that it is probably one of those love it or hate it kind of books. I'd definitely recommend it if you liked the above mentioned books or if you're looking for something a little bit different.(less)

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May 04, 2011 Natalia Pì rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: france

Un beau roman, écrit avec une grande sensibilité. L'histoire d'une fillette précoce et beaucoup trop aiguë et observatrice pour son age, et de son rencontre avec No, adolescente SDF, de laquelle elle décide de s'occuper.
J'ai été surprise par ce livre, surtout par les reflexions de la jeune fille - qui quelquefois me semblent décidément trop profondes pour une jeune fille de treize ans. J'ai beaucoup souligné et transcrit un tas de petites citations de ce roman de formation qui m'a fait réfléchir...more

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Nov 02, 2009 Paula rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels-and-stories, french

Another two star rating for a French book club selection. Midway through I would have given it three stars, but then I began to tire of this story about Lou Bertignac, a 15-year-old, emotionally-starved girl with a genius IQ and her obsession with No, a homeless 18 year old girl she "interviews" for a school assignment and then "adopts." So we have Lou, No and Lucas, the 17-year-old boy from school whom Lou has a crush on, and their respective dysfunctional family situations. Of course all ends...more

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Oct 25, 2011 El Templo de las Mil Puertas added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 17-eltemplo, no-solo-para-adultos

"Lou no es una niña corriente por muchos motivos. Por un lado, es superdotada y, a pesar de sus trece años, va dos cursos por delante en el colegio; y por el otro, no le gusta relacionarse con la gente. No tiene amigos ni tampoco le preocupa demasiado. Sin embargo, su vida cambia cuando, para un trabajo del colegio, comienza a investigar sobre el problema de los indigentes juveniles que atestan las calles de su ciudad, París. Así es como, de la noche a la mañana, esta niña se adentra en un mundo...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Effe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Comment vous dire... Il y a des histoires qui ne peuvent que vous toucher, vous le savez et vous voulez vous mettre à l'épreuve malgré tout.

C'est ce que j'ai fait avec No et moi qui raconte la rencontre entre Lou, une jeune ado surdouée qui vient s'incruster dans le monde impitoyable et sans merci des sans domiciles fixes, au travers de No, jeune femme qui vit dans la rue.

Lou nous parle à la première personne, du haut de ses treize ans et les questions pleuvent par millier dans sa tête, elle...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, e, good-grief, gorgeous-prose, just-been-cutting-onions, own, ya, you-got-a-friend-in-me

Oh this book was wonderful.
I’d never actually heard of this book before I read Rey’s gorgeous review of it. I’ve always been curious about YA books from other countries (meaning not The Big Three: USA, Australia and the UK) because they must be out there. I know they’re out there but it’s difficult to find out about them because they never get the time of day which is such a shame because I know we’re missing out on all these beautiful YA books that are being lost in translation.

I’m thinking The ...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Leanne B rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

OK, so 'real fiction' sounds like an oxymoron... but the world of YA literature, which is right now drowning in vampires and werewolves (please, can't they all just kill each other off already?) and chick-lit highschool drama... is in need of more contemporary novels that really have something to say. This novel is real, it's important. It's about a schoolgirl who's normal but at the same time a bit of a misfit... who meets a homeless girl a few years older than her. She convinces her parents to...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Diejai rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No & ich von Delphine de Vigan erzählt die Geschichte von zwei Außenseiterinnen. Lou ist dreizehn und hochbegabt. In der Schule hat sie zwei Klassen übersprungen und in ihrer Freizeit widmet sie sich den verschiedensten Experimenten. No hingegen ist 18 und obdachlos. Als die beiden sich kennenlernen, beginnt Lou ein neues Experiment: sie möchte No retten.

Delphine de Vigan erzählt die Geschichte von Lou und No mit viel Einfühlungsvermögen. Die Person der Lou gefällt mir unheimlich gut. Beim l...more No & ich von Delphine de Vigan erzählt die Geschichte von zwei Außenseiterinnen. Lou ist dreizehn und hochbegabt. In der Schule hat sie zwei Klassen übersprungen und in ihrer Freizeit widmet sie sich den verschiedensten Experimenten. No hingegen ist 18 und obdachlos. Als die beiden sich kennenlernen, beginnt Lou ein neues Experiment: sie möchte No retten.

Delphine de Vigan erzählt die Geschichte von Lou und No mit viel Einfühlungsvermögen. Die Person der Lou gefällt mir unheimlich gut. Beim lesen hatte ich das Gefühl, Lou kennt die Welt. Und dann wieder wird deutlich, dass sie erst dreizehn ist und sehr naiv an einige Dinge heran geht. Aber gerade diese Mischung ergibt ihren ganz eigenen Charme, welche Lou zu einer liebenswerten und klugen Protagonistin machen. Die Geschichte wird aus Lous Sicht erzählt und man erfährt dadurch auch viel über ihre Gefühle und Gedanken. Nos Gedanken und Gefühle hingegen bleiben dadurch etwas auf der Strecke, was ich schade finde, da ich auch gerne tiefere Einblicke in ihre Gedankenwelt gehabt hätte.

Der Schreibstil der Autorin hat mir anfangs gar nicht gefallen. Sie schreibt viele lange und verschachtelte Sätze, was ich nicht mag. Nach einer Weile hatte ich mich jedoch daran gewöhnt und kam gut damit zurecht. Ein weiterer Schwachpunkt des Schreibstils der Autorin sind die regelmäßigen Zeitsprünge. Die kommen manchmal zu plötzlich und auf einmal war man ohne Vorwarnung in einer völlig anderen Situation. Irritierend fand ich auch, dass sie zum Beispiel über ein Ereignis schreibt, als sei es schon geschehen, dann geht sie in eine andere Situation und wenige Seiten später steht die gleiche Situation erst noch bevor und ist dann doch noch nicht geschehen.

Dennoch ist es Delphine de Vigan gelungen, mich zu fesseln. Sie gibt der Geschichte viele Weisheiten mit. Diese schwingen mal lauter und mal leiser mit, sind jedoch immer da. Sie sind nicht immer schön und die Autorin macht auf gesellschaftliche Missstände aufmerksam. No & ich bietet viel Input, viele neue Gedankengänge und hat mich sehr, sehr nachdenklich zurück gelassen. Zudem hat mich die Geschichte sehr berührt, denn es ist schön zu lesen, wie unerschütterlich Lou daran glaubt, No helfen zu können. Und auch wenn Lous Zweifel langsam größer werden, und sie einsieht, dass es nicht so einfach ist jemandem zu helfen, habe ich mir für die beiden ein Happy End gewünscht. Ob es tatsächlich ein Happy End gab oder nicht, verrate ich an dieser Stelle nicht. Ich möchte zum Ende nur sagen, dass ich es absolut authentisch fand und es das Buch aus meiner Sicht sehr gut abgerundet hat. Nach der letzten Seite saß ich noch lange still da und habe über das Gelesene nachgedacht und ich denke, dass mir dieses Buch noch eine Weile im Kopf herum schwirren wird.

Fazit:

Obwohl mir der Schreibstil der Autorin nicht wirklich gefallen hat, konnte ich mich daran gewöhnen. Zum Glück, denn sonst wäre mir eine ganz außergewöhnliche Geschichte entgangen, welche mir gut gefallen hat. Trotz der angesprochenen Kritikpunkte bekommt das Buch von mir 4 Tapsen, da mir die Geschichte so gut gefallen hat.(less)

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Dec 04, 2011 Stephanie Davies rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wanted to read No and Me after hearing an excerpt on Radio 4 last year. I finished it in a couple of days. It's short, sweet, and simple on the surface. But it's a little deeper when you think about the actual content of the novel. It reminds me a lot of the film Times Square. It also reminds me a little of Beloved, but that might only be an easy comparison because it's the last book I've read.

I spent much of my adolescence in the company of 'streeties.' I wonder now what they must have though...more

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Oct 08, 2011 LitAddictedBrit rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, read-2010

I've seen a lot about this book on all kinds of blogs since it was published and I saw comments on plot, characters, style, cultural references...the list goes on. But nowhere did I see anything about how the novel deals with its key subject matter: homelessness. I'll admit that part of the reason I loved this book so much was that it tackles the issue with sensitivity and understanding and I respect de Vigan so much for this.

I've struggled for some time since I finished this book on Friday abou...more I've seen a lot about this book on all kinds of blogs since it was published and I saw comments on plot, characters, style, cultural references...the list goes on. But nowhere did I see anything about how the novel deals with its key subject matter: homelessness. I'll admit that part of the reason I loved this book so much was that it tackles the issue with sensitivity and understanding and I respect de Vigan so much for this.

I've struggled for some time since I finished this book on Friday about how to formulate this review because it is, after all, 'only' a novel. But it felt like a lot more than that to me. It forces you to look at how you respond to this emotive social issue but avoids being sanctimonious by a well judged ending. I wouldn't have loved this book half as much if it had been all sunshine and light at the end and I think it would have been much less powerful.

Lou is an incredible choice for the novel's narrator. At 13, she sees everything with moving simplicity. No is homeless. She has a home with a spare room. If No had a home, things would be better for her. The solution is simple to her - No lives in the spare room. I loved everything about her: her awkwardness; her compassion; her fragility and her unique kind of genius. What isn't said by her is often painfully obvious to an adult reader by her observations and I adored her for her naivety. Most of all, though, I loved how she kept fighting and trying to understand No. I always find it upsetting when I hear people say, "Oh, it's their own fault" or "They could always just get a job.." etc about homeless people and it was touchingly refreshing that this book bypassed that in Lou, who is almost baffled by how No came to be where she is:

"At what point is it too late? From what moment? The first time I met her? Six months ago, two years ago, five years? Can you get out of a fix like that? How do you find yourself at the age of eighteen out on the streets with nothing and no one?"

Although this is mostly about No and Lou, their relationships with Lou's parents and Lucas lend brilliant support and Lou's glimpses of others' interactions are often revelations for the reader, if not always for Lou.

One more obvious point is that this is written by a French author and is set in Paris. I have read criticism of this book for making too many cultural references. I disagree. Paris is one of my favourite places to visit and every time I go I love it more so I would have been more than happy to lose myself in reminders of its streets - worry not, this isn't the case. Amazingly, the book manages to depict the atmosphere of the city without making it a key factor. Part of the point of the book for me was that it could be any city in any country.

My favourite quote sums up the book, Lou and the issues they address perfectly:

"We can send supersonic planes into and rockets into space, and identify a criminal from a hair or a tiny flake of skin, and grow a
tomato you can keep in the fridge for three weeks without it getting a wrinkle, and store millions of pieces of information on a tiny chip. Yet we're capable of letting people die in the street."

Overall: This is in one way a very easy read - the narration is that of a teenager and is written in that style. It is, however, difficult to read without feeling somewhat guilty about the comfortable chair you're reading it in or the steaming mug of coffee you're sipping or the biscuits you're chomping...and I couldn't recommend it enough for that very reason! (less)

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Sep 01, 2011 Sheila rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age, cultural, current_issues, relationships, young-adult, romance

The last French novel I read (in translation) was Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which centered on a precocious girl genius who befriends a concierge… Today I finished Delphine De Vigan’s No and Me, another French novel, again about a precocious girl genius who befriends… in this case a homeless girl called No. I’m not sure if the prevalence of girl geniuses tells you anything about my readings tastes or French literature. But if you’re only going to read one French novel in tran...more The last French novel I read (in translation) was Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which centered on a precocious girl genius who befriends a concierge… Today I finished Delphine De Vigan’s No and Me, another French novel, again about a precocious girl genius who befriends… in this case a homeless girl called No. I’m not sure if the prevalence of girl geniuses tells you anything about my readings tastes or French literature. But if you’re only going to read one French novel in translation anytime soon, I’d recommend No and Me.

While Lou, the narrator of No and Me, is undoubtedly a little odd, she’s also sweet, shy, brutally honest about her own shortcomings, and very convincingly nervous in the world of older children and adults. Pushed ahead of her grade in school, she’s the smallest kid in class, seriously in danger of becoming the teacher’s pet. And no-one seems to understand why she doesn’t want to give a presentation. (Any parent of shy children will relate—and any formerly shy child.)

Meanwhile No is just another of the city’s many homeless young women, and it’s purely by chance that she asks Lou for money. Something—a need for friendship, a need to be noticed, a need to be someone more than who everyone else assumes they are—draws the two girls together. Lou finds herself researching statistics of homelessness while learning its realities from her friend. But a child who can’t switch her brain off seems in danger of exploding, and all around her Lou sees personalities falling apart—that fragile fabric between security and loss so easily torn and so hard to ignore.

Lou’s own life has been colored by loss. As she relates to and eventually tries to repair her friend, new threads knit into deeper revelations. There’s kindness, joy and gritty determination in this novel that never quite heals the wounds of the broken but somehow still makes them clear. There’s the innocence of a young child growing up, and the sweetness of new love and old, compromise, honesty and hope.

The ending combines brutal reality with beauty in a masterful way and leaves the reader simultaneously sad and smiling and delighted to have shared in the lives told here. A lyrical, haunting, thought-provoking tale that sheathes its claws in sheer humanity.

Disclosure: My sister-in-law really does know what sort of books I’ll like. I loved this gift from her.(less)

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Feb 26, 2011 Amy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If I could describe this book in one word...
GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Lou Bertignac is a 13 year old sophmore who doesn't really have any friends. She lives in France. One day she meets No, a homeless girl, and asks to interview her for her school project. Eventually she asks her parents to let No move in with them.

Allow me to repeat myself:
GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Slow. Slow death...
The writing drove me crazy. It is...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Linda Lipko rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Going out on a limb early in 2011, I believe this will be one of my top reads this year.
No and Me is poetically, stunningly, profoundly beautiful and incredibly structured. Originally written in French, it was translated into English.

Introverted, obsessive compulsive, precocious 13 year old Lou Bertignac possess an IQ of 160. Her mind races way ahead as she solves complex problems and tests, tracking variables and patterns until it seems her head will explode.

Ahead of her class, she rarely inte...more

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Oct 20, 2010 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Set in Paris this quirky tale of a precocious 13-year-old genius Lou, who befriends a homeless girl, will capture your emotions. Whilst her family are experiencing emotional freefall following the death of their baby, Lou befriends No, a homeless girl, who is a few years older than her. She initially attempts to befriend No as part of a school project, then, naively attempts to change her life for the better. Lou manages to persuade her parents to take No in and No, with some difficulty, manages...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: really-good, read-in-2010, cover-appeal, realistic-fiction, adult-fiction, cultural, translated, books-i-own

This book was incredible. Informative and touching, this book captured my attention easily. The characters were interesting, more complex than you immediately think, and the book was well written. I got completely absorbed into the typical French atmosphere and culture, whilst discovering more about the less desirable aspects of the city that people don't usually talk about. I felt the book was very realistic and has the potential to teach a lot of things about life, not just the homeless.

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May 23, 2010 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 gir...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, teen-book

I didn't want this book to end. Lou Bettignac is a brilliant girl who has skipped two grades and has no friends in her class. She also has problems; she can't stop thinking. She collects labels from cloths and compares brands of toilet paper to see which are longest. She likes to hang out at train stations in Paris where she lives, on Tuesdays and Fridays and watch the emotions of people saying goodbye or greeting loved ones. Her mother has been withdrawn since Lou's baby sister died several yea...more

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Jul 08, 2010 The Readings of a Busy Mom Riaz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

www.thereadingsofabusymom.blogspot.com

I haven't read a story like No and Me in a while so when I settled into it I didn't want to turn away, the shocking thing was I wasn't expecting to like No and Me as much as I do. It is a touching and an emotional Novel that embraces you into the story line and characters with wide arms allowing you to absorb every detail along the way. The simple wording flows with ease making this an easy and comfortable read.

Lou is a very alluring character, she's very ma...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Michele rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

Star parts: Now as embarrassing as this is after ten years living in France, I was reading this in translation. A good translator can make or break a book. So, first gold star goes to George Miller who did a stellar job. In English there is no formal and informal address, yet Miller managed to get formality across in the translation and where things just wouldn't work, he used English references. Great job.

Now onto the book, I loved Lou. There we go, I'll just get it out there. I loved that she...more Star parts: Now as embarrassing as this is after ten years living in France, I was reading this in translation. A good translator can make or break a book. So, first gold star goes to George Miller who did a stellar job. In English there is no formal and informal address, yet Miller managed to get formality across in the translation and where things just wouldn't work, he used English references. Great job.

Now onto the book, I loved Lou. There we go, I'll just get it out there. I loved that she asked all those questions; that she explained how her ideas whizzed around so fast that she couldn't express herself properly; that she couldn't get her shoelaces done. I loved her because her little voice was just so strong and clear. And she made my heart bleed when she reflected on the relationship between her mother and her.

The next good point was that homelessness is a tough subject and yet de Vigan didn't pretty it up. I don't want to give too much away about the ending, but it could have been all a fairytale, but it wasn't and that was part of what made the characters of No, Lou and Lucas so real. The family relationship is also painful, particularly that of Lou and her mother and again it was dealt with realistically.

OK, the ending wasn't all down and miserable, and do you know what? I liked that too, because I wasn't expecting it.

Black clouds: I finished reading this a couple of days ago and I've been thinking and thinking, but I can't think of a single thing I didn't like about it. I found the Paris I know and love in this book, with the villages of 'Quecha' tents that were handed out to the homeless a couple of years ago. I wonder if this book transfers as well because it is so steeped in Paris. I know about everything Lou mentions. Sometimes she mentioned a place name and I could see myself there. So, I do wonder if it works for those who don't live in Paris, or have no knowledge of Paris. It would be interesting to know.

Do I recommend it:Totally and whole heartedly. In my bid to read more French literature, I read everything that I see in translation (I'm lazy!) and this and The Elegance of the Hedgehog are top reads. They are classed as adult reads over here, but having read both, and as both have a teenage main character in it, I think they could both easily be YA/adult crossover. (I know this is a review for No and Me, but I just LOVED The Elegance of the Hedgehog!)(less)

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Jul 07, 2012 Diane rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Was fascinated by this short book. Loved the short sentences. I think it helped tell this young woman's story.

Lou is a teenager whose mother has never recovered from the loss of one of her children. Her home life is sad and boring. But Lou is very bright - IQ is 160 - and she entertains herself with experiments (which bread browns faster; watching chocolate melt) or counting things. Is she OCD or does she just need these intellectual pass times?

The author is a master at expressing this young ch...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Alli rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3.5 stars

I liked this. I liked this a lot. Although I can't exactly pinpoint what it is I like about it, I liked it.

I don't really know what I expected from this novel - from the cover it depicts a light an cute read but the synopsis ensures there is at least some form of extreme emotional controversy. Either way, No and Me exceeded my expectations. It must have been something about the characters or perhaps the writing or more than likely, the story itself.

Because in all honesty, I found the w...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lou Bertignac, 13 with an IQ of 160, doesn't quite fit in with her peers. She's been transferred to a class of 15 year olds but has most in common with Lucas,17, who has repeated two years. Her family has never recovered from a past tragedy which has left each family member bereft and leading an aimless existence. Then Lou meets No, an 18 year old homeless girl - on the surface they appear to be polar opposites but somehow they click.

"When I was with No, you could have drawn a circle round us, a...more

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Kindle Book Club ...: SPOILER ALERT: Discussion, No and Me, Completed Reading	13	27	Jul 29, 2012 08:34am
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About Delphine de Vigan

Delphine de Vigan is French and lives in Paris. She has published several novels for adults. No and Me was awarded the Prix des Libraires 2008 (The Booksellers' Prize) in France.

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Quotes from No and Me

“My Dad says that we're the meanest to the ones we love because we know they'll still love us.” — 26 people liked it

“People who think that grammar is just a collection of rules and restrictions are wrong. If you get to like it, grammar reveals the hidden meaning of history, hides disorder and abandonment, links things and brings opposites together. Grammar is a wonderful way of organising the world how you'd like it to be.” — 25 people liked it

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