Piglettes, by Clementine Beauvais

Staff review by Chris Saliba

The victims of online bullying take to the road, pedal to Paris and meet the president.

Three teenage girls – Mareille, Astrid and Hakima – have been voted their school’s ugliest in a Facebook poll. Parents and teachers have tried to intervene, but Malo, the wicked boy who set up the annual poll, won’t be pulled into line. The girls have two options, either fall in a heap, or keep their heads high and show that they are better than this. Mareille – who narrates their story – takes the lead and has an ingenious idea. The girls will ride their bikes to Paris to gatecrash a garden party the president is having. Not only that, they’ll attach a trailer to their bikes and sell sausages (vegetarian ones included) along the way. Soon enough the media is breathlessly following their road adventure and complete strangers are praising them. The girls, exhausted after a week of pedalling, enter Paris victorious.

What a joy this book is! Marielle’s voice throughout is perky, witty and super smart. She keeps the story zooming along at a cracking pace. The reader experiences the girl’s elation as they go from triumph to triumph (with admittedly some hurdles to be cleared along the way.) Original, inventive and wonderfully human, Piglettes will make you feel like anything is possible.

12 +

Piglettes, by Clementine Beauvais. Published by Pushkin Children's. ISBN: 9781782691204 RRP: $16.99

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