Les Imaginales 2019: Some French YA Fantasy authors
- Le Nerd Librarian
- Jun 28, 2019
- 3 min read
Hi nerds! A month ago, I went to the Imaginales Fantasy Festival!
Here are some YA authors whose books I’ve read recently: Ariel Holzl, Betty Piccioli, Jean-Pierre Marcastel, and Estelle Faye.
Ariel Holzl
Photo: ActuaLitté’s Flicker account
Ariel Holzl wrote a YA dark-gothic fantasy trilogy called Les Sœurs Carmines, about 3 recently-orphaned sisters, who each have a specific power, and who are left to fend for themselves in a dangerous city filled with monsters.
In Le complot des corbeaux – the first book – one of the sisters becomes a thief to feed the rest of the family, and accidentally stumbles upon a moral plot involving the Royal Family and a noble House whose members are vampires.
The story isn’t very original, but the dry, scathing gallows’ humor sets it apart from other YA fantasy novels. The style is quite unique, too. It’s darkly funny, and fairly violent, and even though the cover art is pretty and cute, I would recommend it for readers aged 14+.
Betty Piccioli
Photo: Piccioli’s personal Twitter account
Betty Piccioli’s first novel was longlisted for a YA award that I read for, and I have had animated discussions with my colleagues about this. I didn’t dislike it as strongly as the others did, but I did not go so far as to defend it either.
This is a first novel, and it is a mess. The premise is interesting, though: all over the world, children’s imaginary friends start materializing in waves. Said children are happy for a while, but how is society to deal with this massive influx of new beings, some of which are the stuff of nightmares? What’s more, what should the government do once the kids start disappearing into thin air in turn?
There are so many characters no one in my reading group could keep track. The way the story unfolds is also confusing. Some detours are unnecessary and break the rhythm of what is supposed to be a fast-paced adventure. The action takes up too much of the plot, to the detriment of the characters’ own emotional arcs and the development of interpersonal and interspecies friendships.
Finally, I get that this is not a realistic storyline, but the logistics and motives behind the gradual appearance of the Amis Imaginaires and the disappearance of the kids is never convincingly explained, which frustrated me.
There is one redeeming feature I can think of, which is the discussion of the integration / assimilation of the new beings into our society.
Jean-Luc Marcastel
Photo: Ji-Elle
Le retour de la Bête is currently shortlisted for the 2020 Incorruptibles Awards, so I read this a while back with my “longlist committee”. We were split on this, well… Basically no one liked it except me! But it made it to the national shortlist in the end. Ha!
This was actually my top pick for the shortlist out of 35 books, but I recognize that it might be the Old Adult in me talking. I’ll have to wait and see what my 6th-graders have to say about it.
What I liked:
It is moving. I’ll admit that I teared up at the end!
The story takes place in a specific time and place, and I always like a novel that showcases one of the many French regional cultures and languages, in this case Occitania.
The adventure: children come together to create a diversion while the Nazis search their village, to rescue their Jewish classmate.
The embedding: The main storyline is one long analepsis, which means that we get a real sense of closure at the end of the novel, when we discover how the protagonists have fared in life. It also helps create a feeling of nostalgia towards the protagonist’s friendship with Moshe (the Jewish classmate), which makes the ending all the more powerful.
A lot of sentences in this book can be used as “food for thought” with the kids.
What might deter young readers:
The footnotes (why, Gulf Stream?? They’re unnecessary). They break the reader’s focus and I feel like kids are smart enough to use context to understand an Occitan word – or not, it’s not that important and does not impair general understanding.
The reading level, which is quite demanding for a 10-12 y.o. reader.
Estelle Faye
Photo: Damdamdidilolo
Estelle Faye I’ve talked about a little but, when Les Guerriers de Glace won the YA Imaginales Award earlier this year. I’ve only read this one book so far, so I’ll refrain from saying too much until I’ve read more. However, I am definitely intrigued, as I have been hearing more and more about her these past few years. Definitely someone to watch out for in the realm of French Fantasy, especially since she has a background in theater, which I always find fascinating.
Her most talked-about novels: La voie des oracles Trilogy and Les Seigneurs de Bohen.
Happy readin', folks! Time to try some French Fantasy!
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