Originally published in France in 2009, this first publication in England could not be timelier as world leaders meet at COP26 and the crisis presciently foreseen in 2009 is all too visibly present.
Set in a dystopian future where society is run by and for industrial giants, people live in overcrowded and polluted cities stacked vertically miles into the sky. Narrated by a lonely fourteen-year-old boy, remotely parented by his high-flying executive mother, who meets the mysterious Celeste on her first and last day at his school. Despite vowing never to fall in love, he becomes obsessed by her and tracks her down to her home on the 330th floor of tower 330. She has become very ill with mysterious markings on her face and body. He tricks his mother into sending the doctor her family could never afford but comes to realise that he has allowed the corporations to take her at the same time as he realises that her body is mirroring the sickness of the Earth itself- a message ‘they’ want to hide at all costs. Is it too late to save her and the Earth?
This short and beautifully written tale would be the perfect class read at this time and would give children an empowering message about not losing hope.
In this incredibly moving and powerful story about climate change by one of France's greatest writers for children, the world is run by !ndustry and the only thing that matters is to buy, buy, buy. People live in crowded cities where cars are stacked vertically and shopping centres run miles into the sky. On the day Celeste starts school on the 110th floor of a tower block, she meets a lonely, young boy. The next day she doesn't return. Her blood has become as polluted as the seas and rivers. On a mission to save her, the boy battles the forces of !ndustry and takes her far, far away. Will the world realise the truth of Celeste's disease? Will there be time for her, and the planet, to recover?
Featured in The Bookseller's November previews. - The Bookseller
Author
About Timothee De Fombelle
Timothée de Fombelle is a much-admired French playwright, as well as the author of award-winning fiction. His first series, Toby Alone and Toby Alone and the Secrets of the Tree has been printed in 27 languages and has won numerous awards including France’s prestigious Prix Sorcières and the Marsh Award. Timothée's adventure series, Vango, Book One: Between Sky and Earth and Vango, Book Two: A Prince Without a Kingdomreceived huge critical acclaim, and book one was granted an English Pen Award for translation. Timothee also contributed to the acclaimed collection The Great War: an Anthology of Stories Inspired by Objects from the First World War.
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