A trained singer who shuns an audience, the recently-single Arielle finds life takes an unexpected turn when a disheveled boy leaves a ratty backpack on the subway and an overly-friendly cyclist runs into her in the street. Both incidents drive a compelling narrative of disappointment and discovery. Attempting to return the backpack to the mysterious boy, Arielle is drawn to the ‘rap’ and ’skate’ youth culture and learns how a troubled background led to an act of desperation. While the evasive cyclist keeps her guessing, Arielle enlists her vocal skills to empower the struggling boy, nicknamed Mute, to give voice to his experience. In the process she confronts some shadowy areas of her own childhood still impacting her life and art. Told with poetry and passion, the interwoven stories of Arielle and the Chalioux kid, published for the first time in English, will resonate in the hearts of readers everywhere.

The Chalioux Kid, published in French under the title Skatepark, was a top choice of the Paris daily Libération, a “must-read” at the Paris Book Fair.

“A literary choreography. A nimble pen with a visual precision and musical clarity that doesn’t do away with concerns and tensions. A novel with a high regard for its readers.”
(Alphonse Cugier, Liberté-Hebdo, France)

 “Madeleine Monette explores childhood wounds with great sensitivity and acuity, coupled with genuine empathy, casting a benevolent light on the novel. A supremely nuanced novel. Un coup de cœur.”
(Chrystine Brouillet, “Les Bouquineries”, Montréal)

“A story of trust and taming, of ravaged childhood and salvation […] enhanced by Madeleine Monette’s always dense, finely wrought and sensitive writing.”
(Christian Desmeules, Le Devoir, Montréal)

Born in Montreal, Madeleine Monette lives in New York City. She is the author of five novels, two poetry books and a collection of essays. A recipient of the Robert-Cliche Award, short-listed for many literary awards in North America and in France, she has contributed to literary publications in Québec, English Canada, the United States, France, Martinique, Morocco, Romania, Haiti and Italy. She is a member of the Académie des lettres du Québec and a founding member of the Parlement des écrivaines francophones.