This book is a favorite of my childhood, a delight and a treasure. I first read it when I was 8, when 10-year-old were cool older kids, and have read it at least a dozen times, most recently, today. The kids in it are the kinds of kids I, as a child, wanted to be like. They are idealized maybe, but not in a Pollyanna-ish way (she is the kind of child adults would like children to be, I think), just--kids who are unabashedly and entirely themselves, interested and alive and kind and passionate. ( )

Mycket fransk, mycket underhållande och så där smårolig och charmig. Om en ensam pojke som lever ett mycket inrutat liv som förändras totalt då livfulla Victoire börjar i hans klass. Han som ensambarn boende hos sin dystra farmor, hon som den enda flickan i en lång rad med pojkar. En ovanlig vänskap tar sin början, och visar sig resultera många fler förändringar i Ernst liv.

Lagom tunn bok som med korta kapitel passar utmärkt som högläsningsbok samt som egenläsning för de lite vanare läsarna som inte räds en del franska namn. ( )

Kan inte sätta fingret på vad som gör det, men den känns väldigt fransk tycker jag. Mina tankar går både till Tillsammans är man mindre ensam och Igelkottens elegans. De två böckerna är jag inte så imponerad av, men i en barnbok tycker jag att stilen passar bättre. Trivsamt, mysigt och underhållande men förenklat, inte särskilt trovärdigt och med ganska klichéaktiga karaktärer. Skulle kunna bli en söt film. ( )

Ernest lives a constrained, boring life. His mother died when he was born, and his father disappeared shortly after, so Ernest is being raised by his grandmother, a woman so wrapped in the past that she has forgotten how to live. Every day Ernest walks the same way to school, eats the same foods, and studies diligently alone in his room. The ten years of his life had passed so far at a turtle's pace, as if it had been slowed down by the premature onset of old age. Then one day, a new girl appears in his class who changes everything with her forthright manner and large, boisterous family. Victoria introduces color and vivacity into the lives of Ernest and his grandmother.

He repeated {to his grandmother} something Victoria had said: "Energy is like eating. Once you try a little, you get an appetite."

With newly found confidence and togetherness, Ernest and his grandmother are able to confront the family's ghosts and move on.

My daughter and I read this aloud, and we both enjoyed it a great deal. My daughter relished the relationship between Ernest and Victoria and their escapades. I appreciated the relationship of a child and family member who are trying to overcome emotional inertia to reconnect and find a new way forward together. The language is smart and the story is touching without being sappy. Nicely done. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this book, even the second time around. I'd say it was suited for children in 5th-6th grade