Common menu bar links

Annotated Award-Winning Titles

		Grand prix du livre de la Montérégie 2006 Children's literature category Best book chosen by a jury L'esprit du vent Danielle Simard Saint-Lambert, Quebec: Soulières éditeur, 2005. 137 p. (Collection Graffiti; 32) ISBN 2896070281 Ages 12 and up
L'esprit du vent Source

While accompanying his friend Poc, Léo gets lost in the woods. In desperation, he takes shelter with Zélius, a somewhat intimidating giant who takes him on as an apprentice. Léo feels out of his element and finds himself in another world where there is no wind, which he describes as "the other side of the wind." He eventually gains the giant's trust and goes with him to the market so that he can get to know the other world better. Once there, he discovers a highly structured society consisting of master and apprentice, a factory for training children, those who are emancipated, the privileged who make sure that the rest of society remain illiterate and slaves, and lastly, the guards, who seem to have unlimited rights.

This amazing adventure leads Léo, a privileged and overprotected adolescent, to make use of his skills and express his beliefs. Convinced that things are changeable, Léo teaches the masses to read. In doing so, he gives them the tools they need to combat injustice, and thus the key to their freedom.

The world of L'esprit du vent, presented as imaginary, is based on a number of realities found in our own society, which is full of its own contradictions.

–JMB

Previous Table of Contents Next