Just Like Tomorrow by Faiza Guene

Just Like Tomorrow

Faiza Guene

You can't help but love Doria as she delivers her take on life on a Paris housing estate. Her future could seem rather bleak - her father has cleared off back to Morocco, she's going nowhere at school and her best friends are a druggy and a psychologist - but Doria doesn't let this get her down. Her voice is upbeat and funny but never cruel - and she sees through hypocrisy with a wisdom beyond her 15 years. Try this and she could just become your new best friend.

Extract
On the school front, term's ended as badly as it began. It's lucky my mum can't read. I mean, lucky because of my school report ... If there's one thing that gets on my nerves, it's teachers competing to write the most original comment about a student. Result: they all end up sounding moronic. The worst I ever got was from Nadine Benbarchiche, our physics and chemistry teacher, who wrote: 'Distressing, a lost cause, the kind of student who makes you want to resign or commit suicide.' I guess she thought she was being funny. But I'm telling you, she was out of order. Yeah OK, so I'm a no-hoper, but she went too far. Anyway, why would I care about what she thinks? She wears a thong.
Parallels
  • White Teeth by Zadie Smith
  • Amelie - the film