The Mare di Libri prizes were awarded in Rimini, the first literature festival in Italy entirely dedicated to teenagers. The young readers chose as Best Novel for Young Adults: “We’re fine like this” by Nina LaCour, Italian translation by Simona Brogli published by Editrice Il Castoro. While the Best Graphic Novel for Young Adults is “The Journey of Shuna” by Hayao Miyazaki published by Bao Publishing, Italian translation by Prisco Oliva.
The Mare di Libri Award, now in its 11th edition, gives young readers the task of choosing the best book of the year: it has now become an essential event and a prestigious recognition for both the authors and the and the publishers, who write the stories and publish them, both for the girls and boys who read them.
“We’re fine like this” by Nina LaCour, published by Editrice Il Castoro and translated by Simona Brogli, is the winner of the “Premio Mare di Libri 2024” as “Best novel for young adults” of the year.
The novel, selected in the top five lists of the best editorial production of 2023 by the jury of experts in literature for adolescence (Alice Bigli, Simonetta Bitasi, Matteo Sabato, Francesca Mignemi, Vera Salton, Matteo Biagi and Sara Papini), was indicated as the winning book by a jury of ten very strong young readers between the ages of 14 and 16, selected from reading groups across Italy.
The judgment of girls and boys
«The potential of this novel is hidden among the profound and resounding words of the protagonist. Love, desperation, hate… all this is told under the point of
view of a teenager like all of us. Events follow one another like a subtle thread that, sooner or later, will reunite. Adventures take you away from reality.” – Cloe Maria Magherini
They say about the book
«Among the 100 best Young Adults of all time» – Time Magazine
«Raw and beautiful» – Booklist, starred review
«An elegantly crafted hymn to the purifying power of truth» – Kirkus, starred review
«Short, poetic and masterfully written» – The New York Times
«A beautiful and devastating work of art» – Bookpage
«Full of grace. A story that remains in the heart for a long time” – New York Daily News
Synopsis
A poignant and delicate novel, impossible to forget. It will leave you with the desire to cross any distance to reunite with the people you love.
Marin is eighteen years old and has left behind a life that she doesn’t talk about to anyone. Not even her best friend Mabel really knows what happened in San Francisco to push her to leave forever. But even thousands of kilometers away Marin feels the grip of the tragedy from which she tried to escape. Now, alone in her college dormitory in New York, empty for the winter holidays, she Marin waits. Mabel is coming, and she will have to face everything that she has kept quiet and, finally, deal with the loneliness that has nestled in her heart.
Biography
Nina LaCour is the author of the best sellers “Stop That” and “The Rhythm of Summer.” A former bookseller and English teacher, she is now a full-time writer. She lives in Martinez, California with her wife and their daughter.
“The Journey of Shuna” by Hayao Miyazaki, published by Bao Publishing, is the winner of the “2024 Sea of Books Award” as “Best Graphic Novel for Young Adults” of the year.
The graphic novel, selected among the three finalists of the best editorial production of 2023 by the jury of experts in literature for adolescence (Alice Bigli, Simonetta Bitasi, Matteo Sabato, Francesca Mignemi, Vera Salton, Matteo Biagi and Sara Papini), is was indicated as the winning book by a jury of ten very strong young readers between the ages of 14 and 16, selected from reading groups from all over Italy.
The Mare di Libri Prize, which has reached its the girls and the boys.
The kids’ judgment
«This comic has made me very passionate about this world that I previously thought was a little “far” from my tastes. To leave me truly enchanted, in addition to the
beauty of style and writing, it was precisely the drawings that, in some cases, managed to communicate more to me than words.» – by Vittoria Cosmi
Synopsis
In a land affected by a lethal famine, a prince renounces the comforts of court to set out in search of mythical seeds that could feed his people. Along the way he will encounter unspeakable horrors, deadly traps and hostile people, but also the germ of a faint hope for a better future. Masterfully written and drawn in 1983 by Master Hayao Miyazaki himself and remaining unpublished outside Japan until today, this volume has the breadth and epic of a feature film, and the plot unfolds along spectacular and evocative tables, authentic cinematographic paper.
Biography
Born in 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from the Faculty of Political Science and Economics of Gakushuin University, Hayao Miyazaki began working as an animator in the Toei Animation studio, participating in the creation – under the direction of Isao Takahata – of The Great Adventure of the Little Prince Valiant, in the role as set designer and main animator (1968). Still alongside Takahata, in 1971 he then collaborated with the animation studio A Production, for which he worked on the original concept, screenplay, layout design and animation of Panda! Go Panda! (1972). In the following years Miyazaki collaborated with various studios, starting with Zuiyo Eizo with Takahata, Nippon Animation and Telecom Animation Film. He created sets and layout projects for the TV series Heidi (1974), Marco – From the Apennines to the Andes (1976) and directed his first TV series Conan the boy of the future (1978). Lupine III – The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) marks his feature film directorial debut, followed in 1984 by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, based on his original graphic novel serialized in the monthly animation magazine “Anage”, of which he is the author and director.
Miyazaki founded Studio Ghibli with Takahata in 1985, and has since directed ten animated works, including Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki: Home Delivery (1989), Porco Red (1992) and Princess Mononoke (1997). Spirited Away (2001) smashed the box office in Japan, winning several awards, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2002 and, the following year, the Oscar for best animated feature film. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), however, was awarded the Osella Prize at the Venice International Film Festival of the same year, and the same festival awarded the director the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2005 . In 2008 he wrote and directed Ponyo on the Cliff, and contributed to the creation and screenplay of Arietty – The Secret World Under the Floor by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Poppy Hill by Goro Miyazaki. His most recent first film, The Wind Rises (2013), was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated First Film. In November 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Committee awarded him an honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar. He is currently working on new projects. Miyazaki has also published a large number of essays, drawings and poems, including Shuppatsuten 1979-1996 (Starting Point: 1979-1996, 1996). He has designed several buildings, including the Ghibli Museum opened in 2001 in Mitaka, of which he is also Honorary Executive Director. In 2012, the Japanese government elected him a Person of Cultural Merit. In 2014 he was inducted into the Will Eisner Comics Awards Hall of Fame.
Press
