This is an incredibly original and fresh story translated from French and set in the Paris Underground.
Lou Bertignac is called 'brains' at school, as if she is too clever to fit in. She has few friends, and her home life is desolate. At home her father puts a brave face on things but cries in secret in the bathroom, while her mother rarely speaks and hardly ever leaves the house. To escape, Lou goes often to Gare d'Austerlitz to see the big emotions in the smiles and tears of arrival and departure. But there she also sees the homeless, meets a girl called No, only a few years older than herself, and decides to make homelessness the topic of her class presentation. Bit by bit, cola by cola, No becomes more trusting, and they form a bond, until finally, Lou asks her parents if No can come and live with them. But Lou is more naive than she knows, and her noble struggle to bring her friend up to the light of a home and family life will not be the happy ending she so desperately seeks.

Moving and incredible, No and Me is a searching, intense young adult novel that will also be admired by adults, and ought to be considered a YA classic in the realm of Hinton's The Outsiders. Ages 14+