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French Awards

		PRIX LITTÉRAIRE DU SALON INTERNATIONAL DU LIVRE DE QUÉBEC 2005 CHILDREN'S LITERATURE CATEGORY LE FIL DE LA VIE JEAN LEMIEUX ILLUSTRATIONS: SOPHIE CASSON MONTRÉAL: LA COURTE ÉCHELLE, 2004. 63 P. (PREMIER ROMAN; PR 139) ISBN 2890216446 AGES 7 AND UP Available in English under the title Toby's Very Important Question (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Formac, 2004)
Le fil de la vie Source

On the morning of December 26, the sky is a steely grey, as if foreshadowing bad news. FX Bellavance does not know it yet, but catastrophe is about to befall his family. His Aunt France has been killed in a car accident. Brutally, he learns that lives are tenuous and hang only by a thread. The breaking of this thread plunges the family into a state of confusion and distress that he finds hard to understand. However, at the funeral ceremony, FX witnesses how the grief and sadness of the adults has brought them closer together. He now knows that misfortune, like happiness, is part of life.

It is not easy to talk about death, especially with children, but Jean Lemieux explores the theme with finesse. In this realistic, unsentimental novel he recounts with great simplicity the experiences of a small eight-year-old boy who, confronted with sudden loss, discovers that hope endures and life goes on.

-DSH