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  • Today, “All Our Hidden Gifts: La Gouvernante” by Caroline O'Donoghue, published on June 11, 2021 by Éditions La Martinière Jeunesse.

Anne-So “Echos de Mots”, children's literary blogger and contributor to the

20 Minutes

Books

reading group

, recommends

All Our Hidden Gifts: La Gouvernante

, the first volume of a youth saga by Caroline O'Donoghue, published on June 11, 2021 by Éditions La Martinière Jeunesse.


Her favorite quote:

Everything that people believe in together is real.

Intense, passionate energy focused on a precise point will always create something.


Why this book?

  • Because

    All Our Hidden Gifts

    tells us the story of Maeve, a teenage girl

    who struggles to find her place in her family as well as in the Sainte Bernadette high school for young girls.

    One day, she finds a tarot deck in the basement of her school and discovers a real talent for fortune telling.

    Quickly, his comrades learn about it and ask the heroine for sessions;

    Maeve finally feels out of place.

    Until one of the girls, who is none other than her former best friend, disappears after a hectic draw.

  • Because it is a first volume really in the era of time.

    Questions on gender are brought up, in particular through a non-binary character, and there are also reflections on religion or sectarian movements. School bullying, spirituality and “ordinary” racism are other subjects treated with care in this novel. All these themes are approached with address, respect and balance.

  • Because the followers of fortune telling and mysticism can only

    enjoy themselves throughout their reading by accompanying a heroine who finds herself in spite of herself in strange situations. Caroline O'Donoghue plays the tightrope walker on a thread separating realism and fantasy and not a single misstep breaks the perfect balance established here. The heroes are characters anchored in reality who will use powerful tools beyond them to find their missing friend.

  • Because between modern characters, a mysterious disappearance,

    a catchy rhythm and important themes skillfully treated, the author presents us here a 100% addictive teenage novel.

    A bewitching story that puts the divinatory arts at the center to awaken the "sentient beings" who hide within you!

    In short, this first volume is a success and it promises a very interesting sequel!

    Case to be continued ...


The essentials in 2 minutes

The plot.

 When Maeve finds an old tarot in the basement of the school, she becomes the darling of her level, at Sainte Marguerite High School for Young Girls.

One day, while practicing a raffle for her former best friend, things go wrong and she disappears ...

Characters.

 The heroine, Maeve, is a young woman who struggles to find her place and who hasn't always made the right choices in friendship.

Roe is the brother of the deceased and also clashes in his own high school, with his love for girls and boys and his different look.

Places.

 The story takes place in Ireland.

The time.

 The novel takes place today and begins with Maeve being punished and having to clean the Etouffoir, a sort of large closet in her high school basement.

The author.

 Caroline O'Donoghue is an Irish journalist who has worked for

The Times

and Buzzfeed in particular.

After two adult novels,

All Our Hidden Gifts

is her first novel for teenagers.

This book was read with 

pleasure by Anne-So Echos de Mots, blogger specializing in children's and teenage literature.

“For me, reading can be just as much a personal pleasure in which one runs to take refuge as an excuse to discuss and meet other readers.

I am a word lover always interested in new discoveries.

"

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