After more than two months of diligent reading of the 14 novels in the running, from the first selection of the Académie Goncourt, the high school students delegates from each region deliberated behind closed doors.
The result is a list of 5 finalist novels (in alphabetical order), including the next winner of the 2024 Goncourt des Lycéens Prize:
Madelaine before dawnby Sandrine Collette, JC Lattès
The Lost Children's Club, by Rebecca Lighieri, POL
Heartby Thibault de Montaigu, Albin Michel
The winter warriors, by Olivier Norek, Michel Lafon
The Bastion of Tearsby Abdellah Taïa, Julliard
The 2024 Goncourt High School Prize was at the heart of a controversy after the SOS Éducation association, close to the far right, accused The Lost Children's Club by Rebecca Lighieri (POL) to be « pornographic and psychologically dangerous ».
The association denounces scenes that are unsuitable for high school students, evoking a “ incestual environment » and explicit sexual practices, and calls for the creation of a commission to control the selected books.
This novel, which explores dysfunctional family relationships and difficult themes, is nevertheless part of the selection of the Académie Goncourt, a reflection of contemporary society, according to the Ministry of National Education. He underlined the importance of teacher mediation to support students, while recalling the right not to read a book.
The voters finally selected Rebecca Lighieri's novel among the finalists.
The 13 high school student delegates, designated during these regional deliberations, will meet in Rennes, behind closed doors, for the major national deliberation on Thursday, November 28 in the morning. They will announce the winner around 1:10 p.m. from Rennes City Hall.
The Prize presentation will take place the same day, in the early evening, at the Ministry of National Education, in Paris.
In 2023, the Goncourt Prize for High School Students was awarded to Neige Sinno for her novel sad tiger (POL editions).
Find the list of French and French-speaking literary prizes
By Hocine Bouhadjera
Contact : [email protected]
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