The Goncourt of high school students awarded to Sandrine Collette for her novel “Madelaine avant l’aube”

This price, very influential in terms of sales, was announced in Rennes, where this little brother of Goncourt was created in 1988

The Goncourt prize for high school students was awarded to Sandrine Collette for the book Madelaine before dawn (ed. JC Lattès), Thursday November 28. This price, very influential in terms of sales, was announced in Rennes, where this little brother of Goncourt was created in 1988. The latest novel by Sandrine Collette, who entered literature through the thriller, has the appearance of a dark peasant chronicle, until the irruption of Madelaine, a hungry and wild little girl from the forests who comes to question the order of things.

The other four finalists were Rebecca Lighieri (The Lost Children's ClubPOL), Thibault de Montaigu (CoeurAlbin Michel), Abdellah Taïa (The Bastion of TearsJulliard) and Olivier Norek, who abandoned his usual genre, for Winter Warriors (ed. Michel Lafon).

The Goncourt des lycéens, which designates its winner from the same selection as that of the Académie Goncourt, can represent in certain years several hundred thousand copies sold. According to the organizers, it is the second best-selling literary prize in France.

Created at the initiative of Fnac and the Ministry of National Education, the Goncourt for high school students takes place every year from September to November. It allows some 2,000 students from second to BTS to discover contemporary literature and to promote a taste for reading in their establishments. In 2023, the Goncourt Prize for high school students was awarded to Neige Sinno for her book sad tiger (POL), a story about incest also awarded the Femina Prize.