Foreign Rights Catalogue Novels Spring 2012
l’école des loisirs
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Mouche - First readers
ABOUT US
E
ntirely dedicated to children’s books since
1965, l’école des loisirs’
3 4-5 6 7 8-9 10 11 12 13
Jean-François Chabas Delphine Bournay Agnès Desarthe & Claude Ponti Colas Gutman Sophie Chérer Fabienne Mounier & Daniel Hénon Jean Leroy & Matthieu Maudet Céline Sorin Catharina Valckx
main ambitions are to make reading a pleasure for children and to create a home for the authors. We like to consider the authors’ entire works rather than simply their latest title, that is why this catalogue tries to present the books to come but also those we have already published.You will probably notice that our authors write for all ages, and some also for adults.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
Neuf - 9 to 12 years old readers 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Christine Avel Yann Coridian Chris Donner Jérôme Lambert Yvan Pommaux Nastasia Rugani Hélèna Villovitch
Medium -Young adults 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30-31 32 33 34 35
Jakuta Alikavazovic Gisèle Bienne Julia Billet Shaïne Cassim Jean-François Chabas Fanny Chiarello Christian Garcin Jean-Jacques Greif Christophe Léon Thomas Lavachery Éric Pessan Françoise Robert Isabelle Rossignol What’s New With Our Novels?
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AGE
7+
Jean-François Chabas has tried his Full-color illustrations by Cassandre Montoriol 40 pages
The Bandit with Four Hands Strange things happen in the forest of Kuatcha. Travelers who pass through are robbed of their most precious belongings, often without even knowing it. Who are these mysterious thieves who commit their crimes without weapons, and in the greatest of silence? Rumor has it they aren’t even human, but are evil genies. Is it not also said that the for est of Kuatcha possesses a strange char m, which hypnotizes those who stay for too long? By order of the Sultan, a group of soldiers search the forest. Their hearts are gripped with fear.
hand at almost every profession and has written more than seventy books for both adults and children, both tales and picture books. His stories have traveled the world over, from Asian jungles to African savannas, from the Basque Country to the Alps, from Arizona to Siberia.
See his books for young adults on page 25.
l’école des loisirs
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AGE
7+
Nibbly and Key Lime Series (5 titles)
Delphine Bournay was born in 1974. This book is the fifth volume in the adventures of Nibbly and Key Lime. As in her earlier stories, she takes great joy in following her characters, and letting them shape their own adventures at the whim of their daily disputes and reconciliations.
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l’Êcole des loisirs
SOLD Korean
SPRING 2012
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AGE
7+ NIBBLY AND KEY LIME SERIES (5 titles)
Full-color illustrations by the author 104 pages
Nibbly and Key Lime, Wild Animals Another aventure with Nibbly and Key Lime. At the beginning of the story they are worried, perched over a map of the world. They’ve looked everywhere and can’t find their forest. Is it possible that it isn’t there? Is it a mispr int? The boar comes to help... but while sniffing the map too close, he eats a little piece. Of course, he can’t be sure what country he’s eaten. Key Lime suggests they open his stomach, but the boar doesn’t like that idea. What should they do?
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
7+
Agnès Desarthe «Petit Pouf Prince is the only story that I started by telling it to my children. At first time there was no real rhyme or reason to it. And then over time the tale took a structure and became richer thanks to them, their little meltdowns, their moods. It wasn’t until a year or two later that I decided to make a book of it.»
Claude Ponti «I got to know Agnès’ two oldest children very well. Inventing the Petit Pouf Prince was a big project that the three of us accomplished by manipulating their mother through the intermediary of meltdowns, tears, mad laughter, subtle moods, and meaningful glances.»
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
SOLD Catalan, World Spanish, German, Italian, Russian Full-color illustrations by Claude Ponti 80 pages
Petit Pouf Prince The king and the queen were searching for a teacher for their son, Pouf. Numerous crowned heads recommended a certain Mister Ku, and they had him come to the castle, against the advice of their chamberlain. On the night of the fir st lesson, when they discovered what Petit Pouf Prince had learned, they were a bit worried. On the night of the second lesson, when they learned what Petit Pouf Prince had learned, they were even more worried. The third lesson horrified them. And yet, these three lessons were going to be enough for Petit Pouf Prince to become a big king. Petit Pouf Prince was first published in 2002 as a picture book.
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AGE
7+
Full-color illustrations by Marc Boutavant 48 pages
The Princess with Tiny Fingers What is one to do as a pr incess with tiny fingers that are horribly stubby? Give up on getting married and go cry in her castle? Or go snatch the fingers from the beauty with super finger s in the neighboring forest? Accompanied by faithful Sir Dog, her eager servant, the princess ventures into the forest of forgotten tales, populated by second-class characters. Will she succeed in transfor ming her little sausage fingers into a royal pinky? Will she pass the tests of stupidity, feebleness and ultimate cretinism? Nothing could be less certain, because in order to succeed, the princess will have to set aside her intelligence.
The child of writer parents, Colas Gutman thought for a long time that this was the worst career in the world. Then one day the joy of writing grabbed him. In The Princess with Tiny Fingers, there are just enough references to fairy tales, but above all an absurd and opinionated sensibility, an irreverence, and a state of absolute deliriousness.
SOLD Turkish Italian
SOLD Turkish
l’Êcole des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
7+
Mathilde Series (9 titles)
Sophie Chérer challenged herself to write three Mathilde adventures about three taboo subjects: love, money, and religion. This is how Mathilde experienced her first heartbreak in Aime comme Mathilde, and how she made the international monetary order waver in Mathilde met son grain de sel. Now she is trying to put into practice the teachings of Cathy the Catholic, the funny lady from catechism class who has a few points in common with the author.
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SERIES SOLD Korean
SPRING 2012
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AGE
7+
MATHILDE SERIES (9 titles) Illustrations by Véronique Deiss 88 pages
The Night of the Cherubs This year, Mathilde and her gang are signed up for catechism to prepare for their first communion with Cathy the Catholic, a special, funny lady. She reads the Bible to them and it is as beautiful as a poem. Rather than taking them to mass, she leads them into the for est to talk to the trees. And she teaches them that all r eligions, all belief systems, have one motto in common: “Do not do unto others that which you would not want done unto you.” But on the evening of Walpurgis Night, which is similar to Halloween, is this advice compatible with tricks and joke? The children must find a solution.
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
7+ BOLKODAZ SERIES (3 titles)
Fabienne Mounier, writer of plays for the theater and novels, put down her pen forever in the summer of 2011. It is with great affection that her husband, Daniel Hénon, has added his drawings to the last stories of Mr. and Mrs. Bolkodaz, a little, old, facetious couple who are in search of simple pleasures, incapable of getting angry, and the mirror image of the authors.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
Full-color illustrations by Daniel Hénon 112 pages
The Feverish Pace of the Bolkodaz’s Life Welcome to the circus tent of Mr. and Mrs. Bolkodaz! Discover their menagerie and herd of wild animals. Tremble with fear before the terror of the jungle, the terrible panther Tralala! Dream of mounting the talking horse, and admire the birds perched high on top of… an umbrella. In this circus, you will see a lilliputian lion tamer, and acrobats who do pirouettes around a weathervane.
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AGE
7+
Matthieu Maudet spent his
Illustrations by Matthieu Maudet 40 pages
The Basket She’s a mean, ugly, old witch, who doesn’t care for anything or anyone. She rarely ever leaves her house except to gather poisonous mushrooms. One day, at the bend in the path, she discovers a basket. And in that basket is a baby. Terrified by the witch’s hooked nose, the baby starts to bawl. Terrified by the baby’s screams, the witch scurries all the way back to her house. But what strange powers do the cries from that baby possess, such that a witch who doesn’t care for anything or anyone would suddenly decide to retrace her steps?
school years drawing in the margins of his notebook.
Jean Leroy dreamed of writing stories as early as primary school. This is their first novel.
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
7+
When she was a speech therapist, Céline Sorin always had a crocodile up her sleeve. This was the perfect way to help the struggling kids make progress. Four years after having embraced the career of author and illustrator, she has put together the story of a croc torn between his instincts and his need for friendship. It’s a new kind of parable for someone who would feel at ease as a sociable and playful otter.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
Full-color illustrations by the author 56 pages
Dicodorus Anastasius Dicodorus the crocodile strikes fear into any animal who wants to cross the river. The river is his soup. Zebra soup on Monday, wildebeest soup on Tuesday, fasting on Wednesday, antelope on Thursday, gazelle on Friday, ostrich on Saturday and Sunday. Dicodorus, the thick-skinned crocodile, is nevertheless going to make a friend... and change his diet.
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AGE
7+
Catharina Valckx has published
Full-color illustrations by the author 88 pages
Carlo Imagine that one day you suddenly find yourself the hero of a story. What would you do to make this story a success? This is what Carlo the duck, perplexed, is asking himself. He has just lear ned of his new status as lead character. “Watch out,” says Gnouf the pig, “From now on, everything you do will wind up in the stor y. So you need action, encounters, and emotion.” Is Carlo ready to experience all that for the reader? With the unexpected help of Lottie the stubbor n frog, and Jacquette the wistful goat, this story is going to be a success.
numerous books at l’école des loisirs that have been translated into many languages. She was born in the Netherlands, grew up in France, and today lives in Amsterdam. She writes stories in French and Dutch that feature events both fanciful and logical, and she never stops inventing sincere, charming, elegant characters.
SOLD German
SOLD Vietnamese
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
9+
After several years spent just about everywhere around the world, Christine Avel now lives in the south of France, temporarily… She has published two books for adults at éditions Le Dilettante: a novel, Double foyer, and a collection of short stories, L’Apocalypse sans peine. Presently she writes novels for children, in order to finally tell stories with happy endings.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
80 pages
Weak at Math Abel has just turned eleven. He belongs to a family who has had a flair for math for generations. But when he sees numbers, everything grows fuzzy. He becomes an idiot. It’s always been that way. In the mail this mor ning, there was an invitation! Abel hoped it was an invitation to join a sorcery school, where they would finally discover his secret talent. What a disappointment! This letter announced that he had won a week in Finland with Elias Chomsson, a mathematics genius. Someone must have made a mistake! Abel, who has always dreamt of traveling, will head to the land of the aur ora borealis, where a strange and funny man awaits him.
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AGE
9+
Yann Coridian 140 pages
My Father, the Star, and Me Have dinner, go to bed early, don’t see anybody. That’s what Martin is forced to do this Sunday evening when his father is not home. But soon someone is pounding at the door. It’s a woman who knows Martin’s dad very well. And that seems true, otherwise how would she know, for example, that he’s thirty-six years old and he can’t resist a package of peanuts? She needs help. And that’s how Martin opens the door to this somewhat strange and very tall woman. Who is she? How long is she going to stay? Why does Martin’s dad say, “We have a star in the house”?
left school at the age of 16 to work in film. He was director of casting for several years, then wrote a well-received short film, Le Baiser, which he directed in 2008. It was when he was finishing the script for his first feature-length that he started writing books for children.
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
9+
Writer, journalist, filmmaker, literary critic... but also an equestrian chronicler, Chris Donner is the author of multiple works. After Le cheval qui sourit, which became a classic of young adult literature, he leads his readers once again into the world of horses, or more precisely, that of racing. Storm at the Stud Farm has arrived close on the heels of a work published at La Martinière, Le Fabuleux ou la Vie d’un pur-sang.
l’école des loisirs
Storm at the Stud Farm I attended the births of all these colts. They were my passion. And still today, in spite of all that has happened to me, this is what interests me the most: the next foal to be bor n. To see him stand and stagger, hesitating. He goes to his mother, nurses, all that, then runs, and grows, and soon wins a race before giving birth to other colts, and so on. Some horses become cracks. All it takes is making them run and they go faster than the others. Why? It’s a mystery.
SOLD Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Catalan, Basque
SOLD Greek, Korean, English (South Korea)
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140 pages
SPRING 2012
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AGE
9+
Jérôme Lambert
104 pages
Terrible Tuesday Lucien doesn’t like much in life, with two exceptions: his girlfriend Fatima and his friend Crouton. At the top of the long list of things he doesn’t like, there is Monday. And Monday just might be dethroned by Tuesday. Because this Tuesday Lucien’s life turns upside down. First of all, Fatima, whom Lucien loves so, says some terrible words that will change everything. Then his Grandma announces that she’s getting married. Perhaps she’s gone mad. The consequence of all this is that Lucien is going to quarrel with Crouton, his friend forever. Hang in there, Lucien.You have five days to overcome this curse!
works in publishing. He reads a lot, and translates authors that he likes, such as Chaim Potok, Jerry Spinelli, and Nick McDonell. He has published two novels for adults at éditions de l’Olivier. His character Lucien appears for the first time in J’aime pas le lundi.
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
9+
As an adolescent,
Yvan Pommaux received an enormous encyclopedia of mythology as a gift, and he dove into it with delight. Many years later, he wanted to give his own versions of these famous but misunderstood stories in which numerous gods associate with humans, and have fun.
MYTHOLOGY SERIES (4 titles) 80 pages SOLD World Spanish
Theseus From the wreck of a Greek ship, young divers have surfaced with a splendid vase depicting the battle between Theseus and the Minotaur. The archeologist leading the expedition then spends the night beneath the star s telling them the story of this king of Athens, who was the inventor of democracy and the hero of so many legends and works of art.Yvan Pommaux thus offers us his version of this great myth with precision, clarity, a wealth of details, and a lot of humor.
SOLD German, Italian
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AGE
9+
Nastasia Rugani was born in
80 pages
When a Dinosaur Moves My parents decided to leave Paris to go live in the countryside. Fantastic! I have to leave behind all my friends and change my life. This morning at my new school there is no free spot on the boy’s side when the students line up, so I stand beside a g irl whose sweater is covered in stains and whose eyes are the color of cinnamon. “You can’t stay here,” she says cruelly. The day has barely begun and I already have an enemy. Her name is Charlie and she is the head of the boys’ gang, The Grubbys. The other gang, the girls’ one, The Pigtails, has Cléo as boss. At recess, they ask me if I want to play Jail Ball. “Choose your side,” Charlie challenges me. “Yeah, choose your side,” adds Cléo. It’s the trap of the centur y. Whose side should I choose?
1987 and lives in Paris. When she was little, she loved big novels and big insects. Later, she wanted to be a neurologist and erase nightmares, until she discovered that you can live with them by putting them down on paper. She then studied literature, nourishing the hope of becoming a writer, which she is today.
l’école des loisirs
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AGE
9+
FERDINAND SERIES (2 titles)
Hélèna Villovitch
At age 20,
devoured science fiction novels and desperately wanted to write one herself, but felt she wasn’t scientific enough. By endowing her hero Ferdinand with micropowers, she finally gives free reign to her childhood passion. The fantastical serenely takes over the quotidian in this book, with fantasies inspired by anecdotes and characters who are very real.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
140 pages
SOLD German
Ferdinand’s New Micropowers Where can Ferdinand possibly find a bed for the night? Why not at Babouche’s place, his friend with a vocal tic disorder? That’s a bit too noisy! Then how about his grandfather’s fiancée? The problem is she’s not getting along right now with dashing poppa. He might well end up sleeping in the str eet, left to his own devices. Ferdinand will really need his micropowers to find refuge and foil the plans of disturbing pyromaniacs.
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AGE
12 +
Jakuta Alikavazovic
140 pages
Irina vs. Irina With her big, pale eyes and long, blond hair, Irina is the perfect incarnation of Irina, the little princess entirely created by her father, a writer. But over time this novelistic Irina has become cumbersome. Bernard is living alone with his older brother and has quit attending school. At night he dances like a rock star. During the day he cultivates his mysterious side, never removing his sunglasses. So when Irina moves into the building across from Bernard’s, it’s like sparks are in the air. Funny girl, Bernard says to himself as he sees this blond for the first time. The boy is crazy, thinks Irina. That’s when something strange happens.
published two novels at l’école des loisirs in 2004, which she considers as a goodbye to her own adolescence. She then wrote several texts for adults. With a degree in English, Jakuta Alikavazovic has taught at universities and is also a translator. In September 2011, she decided to devote all her time to writing and traveling.
l’école des loisirs
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AGE
12 +
Like Ingrid, her heroine,
Gisèle Bienne used to love dolls. Her favorite, Ribni, stood guard at the window when she wasn’t around, decked out in marvelous outfits that changed according to the season and were made by the writer with the same fervor that she puts into her texts.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
104 pages
The Hidden Life of Dolls The adventuresses, the unloved, the forsaken, Ingrid spots them at first glance. These aren’t just dolls to Ingrid, they are people, silent, beautiful, and living. Ingrid understands that they are not happy where they are. So she acts. She takes them and brings them with her. Then, of course, she must hide them. If her parents knew... They would be ashamed of her. It’s impossible for this ideal couple to not have a perfect daughter. Their child, a liar, a thief, a kidnapper! Is she stealing the dolls? Not at all. She’s saving them from oblivion and neglect. Is she lying? Well, who started lying first in this story?
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AGE
12 +
Julia Billet
104 pages
Catherine’s War During World War II, Rachel Cohen becomes Catherine Colins. From now on she must forget her former name, and the names of her par ents. She must forget her life before as well, when there was no war and the Jews didn’t have to hide. And then, she must leave. Catherine brings along her Rolleiflex and some film, and to hold on and resist, she takes precious and poetic photos.
“This story was inspired by real events, characters who existed and whom I want to honor. […] But this novel remains a novel first and foremost, a novel within the context of a period of history as a reminder that even when wolves howl to death, women and men know how to remain faithful to their humanity.”
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AGE
12 +
An editor for children’s books, Shaïne Cassim is also the author of several novels for young adults. Like her character Aurélien, she adores the blues, and she has long wanted to write a novel about music. It all fell into place after a Ray LaMontagne concert. She then imagined her heroine, Jolene, whose first name is also the title of a song by Dolly Parton.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
182 pages
Jolene “She winks at me and I laugh. We understand each other. We’ve known each other for centur ies. We’ve just been waiting to cross paths one night. She puts one hand on my neck, bites her lower lip when I caress the contours of her face with my thumb. My heart’s beating wildly. I want to kiss her so badly. No more than one centimeter before reaching her mouth, but everything stops and she turns away. She pushes me against the wall, takes off her hat and tells me in one br eath, ‘No, I’m the cowboy.’ And it is she who kisses me.”
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AGE
12 +
Readings, reflections, and encounters stimulated Jean168 pages
Land of Impiety Rachel is on the road with her backpack. She is small and alone, but she is confident, walking toward the summit of the mountain, to where the signs and apparitions she calls her “Magic” have called her. Up until now, Rachel has only met closed-minded adults along the way, a sick bunch of people, obsesses by money and false values. There is someone who could under stand her, but she doesn’t know him. It is Abdelhamid, an old Algerian man, a former harki. He lost everything fifty years ago: his family, his illusions, and his faith. They may not know it yet, but this man and child will meet.
François Chabas to write this story. For a long time he had wanted to talk about the harkis, Algerian combatants who, after taking the side of the French during the war in Algeria, found themselves abandoned and hated by both sides.
See his other books on page 3.
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AGE
12 +
Fanny Chiarello was born in 1974. She spends her time writing, playing music with her group Toysession, and regularly giving writing workshops for adults and children. Her latest novel, L’éternité n’est pas si longue, came out on éditions de l’Olivier in 2010.
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
224 pages
Holden, My Brother When he pushes the door of the city librar y and enters for the first time, Kévin Pouchin hopes to find a bit of warmth there. He’s not asking for anything else, especially a book that might make him look like a wimp or a traitor to his f amily, in the eyes of his father or the ruffians at school. At the library, he meets Laurie, the first in the class, as well as Irène, a volcanic granny who has decided to work for the “spiritual elevation” of her new protege. Thanks to these singular allies, Kévin is going to secretly read the first book in his life: The Catcher in the Rye. The hero, Holden, seems a lot like him.
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AGE
12 +
A many-faceted author and a traveler who takes long trips, Christian Garcin went down the Lena River to its mouth at the Arctic Ocean. He came away with this tale about animals, fresh and poetic and in the same vein as Aux bords du lac Baïkal. Another book written in collaboration with Éric Faye, En descendant les fleuves, Carnets de l’Extrême-Orient russe, resulted from the same expedition. It was published in Fall of 2011 at éditions Stock.
140 pages
The Butterflies of the Lena In this poetic tale about animals, the powerful Lena River sometimes carries along curious things across thousands of kilometers, like a piece of twisted, black wood in a strange shape. The two butterflies Anastasia Fanfreluche and Sonia Baboutchka see it as a platfor m on which to alight and chatter. When they fly off, the three Arkhangelsk wolf cubs use the piece of wood as a toy to chew on. How far will this piece of wood drift? Up to the river’s mouth, where it seems the musk oxen live? Only Goritsa, the deity of the Lena, can say.
Awarded “Book of the month” by the French radio RTL in March 2012
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AGE
12 +
Jean-Jacques Greif was twelve years old when he discovered the horror of Hiroshima. Later, after several visits to Japan and some exceptional encounters, he wanted to write the story of Kenichiro. His book covers the little-known episode of the Japanese internment camps set up in the United States during World War II.
SOLD German Korean Greek
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l’école des loisirs
238 pages
The Thread to Sew Souls Back Together Kenichiro thought he was an American like all the others. But on December 7th, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and started the war, the Los Angeles-born teenager suddenly became a “Jap,” an enemy foreigner, like all the Japanese living in the United States. They were viewed as potential spies that had to be banished. Kenichiro, his mother, his little sister, and several thousand other “Japs” find themselves in the middle of the desert, in a “relocation center” surrounded with barbed wire. Kenichiro prefers to laugh about it in the letter s that he regularly sends to Mrs. Moore, his former English teacher.
SOLD World Spanish
SPRING 2012
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AGE
12 +
As an adult,
Christophe Léon was first a 182 pages
Lucie and Jordan Go for a Stroll PIU – what exactly does that mean? P edagogical Integration Unit, I think, or something like that. In reality, it’s a dead-end class where they park kids with problems, or when they’re behind... Suddenly, I’m startled. There is a student across from me. He’s two heads taller than I am. He’s thin, and keeps his arms by his side, his hands wide open. He’s breathing fast, and his thoracic cage raises with each breath. “This is Jordan,” says the assistant principal, and he turns toward me. “And this is Lucie,” he continues, gesturing my way. But why did I volunteer to mentor one of these students?
tennis teacher, then an orthopedic technician, then an painter before becoming a writer. The theme of fleeing (and as far as one can), present throughout his novel, relates to him in particular, as it corresponds perfectly to the adolescent he was.
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AGE
12 +
Bjorn Series (7 titles)
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AGE
12 +
BJORN SERIES (7 titles) 350 pages
Bjorn at Battle II - volume 7 Bjorn, a powerful jarlal? To see him wandering about half-naked, with no escort and no sword, dirty and exhausted, you wouldn’t think so. After his defeat in the fight against the mer cenaries of King Karl in the Hallor n Woods, the morphir has lost everything. But he has found his brother, Gunnar. Erik’s two brothers have not seen each other in three years, and during all this time Gunnar’s jealousy has not stopped g rowing. But does rivalry still reign when Fizzland is in the hands of the enemy?
Keep moving, never settle down: this is the rule that Thomas Lavachery has established. The novelist has reshuffled the cards of his long-running tale. The first volume of Bjorn at Battle dealt with court intrigues, military strategies, and great battles. This second installment emphasizes travels and new encounters. “Here I come back to the fundamentals of adventure novels. The ultimate example: Kidnapped! by Stevenson.”
Adapted into graphic novels by Casterman (3 volumes)
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
12 +
Éric Pessan is the author of over fifteen works: novels, plays for the theater, and texts a bit difficult to classify, what you might call poetic prose. Pessan enjoys visiting the studios of artists and the darkrooms of photographers, and then imagining stories that are linked to the works he discovers. One day, his children asked him why he didn’t write for younger readers. And he answered, “Hey, why not?”
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
120 pages
Higher than the Birds
That Wednesday, April 21st, there were three of us. My two friends and I were on the terrace of my building, the only tall tower in the city. Access was strictly forbidden. Nevertheless, we often went all the way up there. It was magnificent, the city was no longer the same, the world became gigantic. That day, if I had been alone, I wouldn’t have done the same thing. Nothing would have happened. I think about it constantly. About what happened. I’d like to confide in someone, tell him everything. But who could understand without judging?
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AGE
12 +
Françoise Robert is a French
266 pages
Ma “Do you know? Yes or no?” I realize that I’m practically screaming despite my voice, which is choked with emotion. “What do you know about me?” I breathe quickly. I wait. Odette stammers, “What do you want us to tell you that you don’t already know, my dear?” The anger strikes me violently, and throws me to my feet. “I am not your dear.You know.You’ve lied to me. You’ve hid it all from me as if I were an idiot... a little puppet.” The rage burns my eyes. I grab for my coat and run out the door, slamming it behind me.
artist. Her very visual style of writing has driven her toward cinema, scriptwriting, and short filmmaking. For more than ten years, she worked in child psychiatry with hospitalized children. There, she notably helped teens publish their own journal. She started writing at a very young age. She has already published at éditions de l’Aube and at Motus. Ma is her first text at l’école des loisirs.
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
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AGE
12 +
Isabelle Rossignol writes as if she were watching a film: the images unfold before her eyes at the moment when the story is created. She Is So Nice was born from the desire to explore the theme of jealousy.
SOLD Korean
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l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
154 pages
She Is So Nice Ever since her mother left the house, Clarisse lives alone with her father. But all the tears she’s cried won’t succeed in washing away the memories of happier days. No matter how much her father takes refuge in his work and meets new women, she can see that he is sad. Just like her. Luckily, Clarisse has Elsa, her best friend and confidant. Elsa has just spotted a ne wcomer to the high school. Julien loves poetry and jazz. But when Clarisse’s eyes meet his emerald gaze, she feels moved like never before. Does she have the right to love and be loved, without betraying her best friend?
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AGE
12 +
From Page to Screen
BOOK RIGHTS SOLD Catalan (Cruilla), Dutch (KOK), World English (Bloomsbury), German (Dressler and DTV), Italian (Giunti), Korean (Nangiyala), Polish (Swiat Ksiazki), World Spanish (Fondo de Cultura Económica).
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
in cinemas
(February 2012)
From Novel to Comic
BOOK RIGHTS SOLD English (David Godin, Allen & Unwin), German (Fischer), Greek (Kastaniotis), Italian (Mondadori), Spanish (Espasa Calpe).
No pasaran, the game
a graphic novel published by Casterman (April 2012)
l’école des loisirs
SPRING 2012
35
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