As every year, a jury made up of journalists and organizers – the Montreuil Youth Book and Press Fair and France Télévisions – awarded the gold nugget at the fair which opened on Wednesday, December 1. This year, he rewarded Hélène Vignal for her novel Queen kong, elected “best creation of the year” children’s literature.
Contrary to the ABCs of nature by Bernadette Gervais, winner last year, Queen kong is a book aimed at teenagers. Hélène Vignal’s 17th novel deals with the discovery of sexuality and is hosted, with its publisher Thierry Magnier in the collection THEardeur, which selects books on adolescence and the discovery of bodies.
And like for previous editions, making a choice was not easy. After taking stock of their readings of the twenty books in competition, the members of the jury had to debate. “The whole difficulty lies in choosing the form which for us represented something innovative, which will renew our look and our approach to children’s literature “, explains the writer Ramona Bădescu who, at the head of Salon de Montreuil, chairs the Pépites jury. “We wanted to distinguish a work that has demonstrated daring, inventiveness, singularity and which triggers a vibration in us. To choose, we also took into account the theme of this year which is “Us?” and which pushes us to question ourselves about who we are and what defines us. And we wondered which book in this selection could resonate with this theme “, she specifies.
Over the course of the discussions, Hélène Vignal’s book stood out. “Queen kong really stood out. It was clear that he had touched, marked everyone. But that did not prevent big debates “, reports Joseph Jacquet, juror and Head of Research and Development Animation at France Télévisions. Because if the engaged book marked the spirits by its audacity, “We obviously wondered if it was the book to medal with this nugget because it is a very strong book and it is a kind of political commitment around the question of feminism. A book with real feminist commitments, that hasn’t always existed in the world of children’s literature. And even if the Salon du livre de Montreuil has always been committed, we had to decide on this point and find out if we were ready to follow through on this word “, continues the latter.
Queen kongis the story of a young girl who discovers her sexuality. In this first-person story, this teenage girl explores her body and those of her partners. She is free and it is not to everyone’s liking, because her sex life has been rumored. Very quickly, she was the object of attacks and insults on social networks. And through the group effect, this harassment is becoming more and more widespread. Sexual freedom, cyber-harassment, discovery of bodies, themes at the heart of the story join those of today’s teenagers and resonate completely with the news.
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“It is extremely important for teens not to leave them alone to find the answers. But to tell them that there is a place there, which happens to be reading and books, where there are grown-ups who give them the paths to take in order to grow in turn. And that it is not a discourse of parents to children, but of adults who welcome the little ones “, says Joseph Backgammon. For Ramona Bădescu, “it is a book which questions us about what we can share with children and which opens up a space of language, literary and reflective”.
An alternative to the violent images that we sometimes find in pornography, this book is a literary space where sexuality appears as knowledge of oneself and of its vast sensory territory. “Sexuality lives in the period of adolescence and it is essential to talk about it with teenagers. According to a 2019 FIFG survey, people start watching porn between the ages of 14 and 14 and a half. The question is: what is vulgarity and what violence ? Is weaving a story that links personal feelings and sensuality to questions of sexuality, and the desirable world for young people, is more vulgar than violent images and very often disrespectful that one imposes? “, s’asks the president of the show.
Beyond the themes tackled by Hélène Vignal, it was her pen that imposed itself on the jury. “I was marked by the hard-hitting and hard-hitting style of the author “, emphasizes Joseph Jacquet. “She goes to the end of her project, including in the final metaphors she chooses. I found it really exemplary. Even if it is not easy as an adult, when you talk to the youth, we want to provide them with real boxing gloves to make life and not simulacra. And there, we are dealing with a real word “, he continues
Yes Queen kong hit the mark, other books also caught the jury’s attention. As Violent, by Maryline Desbiolles and Laurie Lecou (ed. The leisure school). “It is a book that has received a lot of attention for its literary qualities.“, says Joseph Jacquet. The book tells the story of a somewhat enigmatic witch-like girl who quickly arouses the curiosity of her comrades.
TO the list s‘adds Polly by Fabrice Melquiot and Isabelle Pralong (ed. La Joie de lire). Polly is a child born to indefinite gender. Her parents are pressed by the doctor to choose between the two sexes and decide that Polly’s gender will be masculine. He is then brought up as such and yet he feels neither man nor woman. “Polly impressed us, more on the subject of sexuation than on her treatment “, relates Joseph Jacquet.
Farewell Snow White, of Beatrice Germany (ed. The part) has also been cited many times. “We have found a kind of maturity of the illustrated book which goes beyond the children’s book “, details our juror. Beatrice Germany upsets the codes of illustration in this adaptation of Snow White.
Another shot heart, Hell of Marine Ledun (ed. In8), a fiction for adolescents. The novel looks back on the prisons of Guyana, a set of camps and penitentiaries located in this former penal colony, between 1795 and 1953. The main character, Ahmed, is sentenced for braving the curfew by visiting his sweetheart. Surrounded by dangers of all kinds and plunged into despair, he will have an encounter that risks changing everything.
The Nuggets 2021:
Gold nugget : Queen kong, by Hélène Vignal, Éditions Thierry Magnier
Illustrated books: Spirit, are you there? Dominique Ehrhard, Anne-Florence Lemasson, The Great People
Comics : Nowhere Girl, Magali Le Huche, Dargaud Nuggets
Junior Fictions : Girls usually don’t go so high, Alice Butaud, François Ravard, Gallimard Jeunesse
Teen Fictions : Polly, Fabrice Melquiot and Isabelle Pralong, La Joie de lire