Translated by Sarah Adams.
Lucy is determined to meet all the people in her new apartment block, but the first person she meets is Matthew, an autistic boy upstairs from her, and his mother, Marie. Matthew loves to plunge his hands into long hair and, getting to know Lucy's friend Theo, he begins to respond to the music of Theo's grandfather's African drum.
Lucy is also trying to make a very well-behaved dog more dog-ish. She succeeds in getting him to be more naughty, but it is Matthew who can really teach him the true nature of a dog . . .
A narrative full of spontaneity, freshness and joy on a difficult subject, treated without sentimentality. An insight into the life of a small autistic boy, through the eyes of a teenage girl. A realistic look at multi-cultural city life, in the microcosm of a Parisian apartment block.
