Annie Au Millieu by Emilie Chazerand | ticking off a goal to read more French books

Hi Everyone!

I know not so many of you will be interested in this post because it is my review for a French book. I am bilingual so I speak French fluently. My reading is alright, of course I am less confident than in English but my writing isn't great so I'm hoping that by reading the writing will also improve. I picked this one up in a French bookshop when I went over there back in October half term and I only just got round to reading it! 

This is a about a young girl called Annie with Downs Syndrome. She loves Majorettes but is often put down because of the way she looks and acts. When her trainer kicks her out the team, her family comes up with a plan so she can perform anyway.

This is such a compelling book. I love the way it is written from the perspectives of Annie's siblings too and I often enjoyed their parts more than hers. She had a wonderful voice and always made me laugh. She loves life and that's something so beautiful to read about and witness. She doesn't care what others think of her and the smallest things make her ecstatically happy. Similarly, the smallest things make her mad. She has such a big heart though and it really shines.

The perspective of the older brother was possibly my favourite. He was struggling with so many secrets: he has dropped out of school and as he is 18 his parents don't know, he has a boyfriend, he smokes, he can't read...It was both heartbreaking and eye opening. He is so similar to a lot of people at school and the way that Annie has 'caused' some of this was heart-breaking. He seemed like a 'cool kid' but the only reason he did so was because he was hiding the fact he couldn't read. 

The older sister was very interesting too. She reminded me a lot of Tori from Heartstopper and Solitaire by Alice Oseman. 

They both had some AMAZING character development by the end and I was sad to see them go. The interwoven stories of the people that help them on their quest to learn Majorettes for Annie were also some of my favourite parts. You get to know so many people and the way that their stories are affected by Annie and how Annie is affected by them.

Overall, I loved this. It was such a fun and happy read, but that also dealt with some tough topics that I felt were handled very well! There is no translation for now but if there is, I would highly recommend! And for my French viewers, please read this!

Thank you so much for joining me today in this post and I hope you are all very well!

Let's chat!

Do you have any recommendations for books with positive Downs Syndrome representation?

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