Just Like Tomorrow (Definitions) - Softcover

Guéne, Faiza

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1862301581 ISBN 13: 9781862301580

Publisher: Definitions (Young Adult), 2006

Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Doria isn't in a good place. Or to be precise: she's in the sadly misnamed Paradise Estate on the outskirts of Paris. Her father has gone off back Morocco to find a wife who can give him a boy, and her illiterate, non French-speaking mother is having to fend for herself with a cleaning job in a grim motel. What's more, her favourite soap star has turned out to be gay and it looks like the only school that is going to accept Doria is the one for future hairdressers. Still, it could be worse: Doria could be like Samra, the girl in the flat above, whose father doesn't let her out, or Youssef who has been banged up for a year for dealing in drugs and stolen cars. At least Hamoudi - twenty-eight and the coolest guy on the estate - is her friend. And at least she gets a free weekly session with psychologist Mrs Burland, who is about the only person who listens, even if she doesn't quite understand...

In this fabulous first novel, Faiza Guene has created an unforgettable voice. Doria is both clued up and innocent, acutely aware of what's in store for her and powerless to change it. She is funny, clever and tragically trapped. But in the end, her dogged determination not to be down-trodden and humiliated wins through and it looks like things can only get better.

About this title

About the Author

Faiza Guene is now twenty years old and is currently a university student. Like her heroine, she is from an immigrant North African family living on a housing estate outside Paris. She has written a screenplay for and directed a short film which received funding from several prestigious cultural organisations.

From the Back Cover

One thing s for sure, everything s linked to fate here. For better or worse. As for me . . . I haven t finished being disappointed yet.

On the outskirts of Paris, Paradise Estate couldn t be further from the truth. Fifteen-year-old Doria feels justifiably fed-up, since her father took off back to Morocco, and her illiterate mother is stuck in a dead-beat job, watched over by social services. Left contemplating a future in hairdressing, a first kiss that tastes like crackers, and Mrs Burlaud, her new psychologist who smells like alcohol, Doria s beginning to think that there s no such thing as coincidence . . . When fate deals a hand like this, why would tomorrow be any different?

A streetwise debut from an acclaimed and talented young writer.

Full of humanity and wry humour Guardian

A Bridget Jones teenager of the suburbs Elle

It s sad, it s funny, it s stuffed full of talent Cosmopolitan

Edition details

• Publisher: Definitions (Young Adult)
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1862301581
• ISBN 13: 9781862301580
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192