Alice stays at home

This is the story of Alice, a 15-year-old girl with whom getting along is rather difficult. Incredibly unlikable from the very first pages, she seems to hate everything and everyone except Andrea, her best friend, and her grandfather Bob. Unlike her parents, who work in a hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic and don't have the time to care for her while they're trying to understand a virus they don't know anything about and that's killing a lot of people, Bob really listens to her and doesn't label everything she says as “childish”. Skià, a YouTuber, also listens to her and forces her to question herself, open up to new dreams and take flight. A story that blends real life and imagination and that leads readers to second-guess everything – protagonist included – and that might seem disquieting at times, though undoubtedly brilliant in its entirety. The two authors explore several themes, first of all Coronavirus and its consequences on the life of people and of teens who are already dealing with adolescence and the insecurities it brings with it. Perfectly executed in terms of both style and content, Alice resta a casa (Alice stays at home) juxtaposes fact and fantasy, the world of grown-ups and the world of children, with writing styles that simultaneously interweave and diverge from each other, while its protagonist recalls another heroine, the Alice who got lost in Wonderland.

Alice resta a casa (Alice stays at home)
by Manlio Castagna e Marco Ponti
Mondadori, 2021