Starfinancer

AND’ Veronica Raimo with the novel Nothing true (Einaudi) the winner of the Strega Giovani Prize, announced during a ceremony that took place at the Pala Studio in Cinecittà. Raimo wins the award with 96 preferences out of 573 votes cast by a jury of girls and boys between the ages of 16 and 18 from 100 upper secondary schools distributed in Italy and abroad (Berlin, Brussels, Paris). “I am very excited and happy with an award that comes from young people” she said hotly.

In second place Alessandra Carati, And then we’ll be safe (Mondadori, 77 votes) and third Claudio Piersanti, That damned Vronsky (Rizzoli, 58 votes). The three books voted by the boys ensure a valid vote for the race to the semifinal.

That Raimo was the boys’ favorite was known. The book, which stages an ironic female character in describing her defective family with a ferocity full of affection, is doing very well in sales, therefore it is easy to convince even the historical jury of the Amici della Domenica.

It’s a family romance, albeit of a different kind, too That damned Vronsky by Piersanti, where a man upset by the sudden disappearance of his wife imagines a romantic betrayal of Anna Karenina in order to be able to give himself an explanation. The second place of Alessandra Carati with And then we’ll be safe instead it is an indication of the interest of young people for current events and history: the novel tells the story of a young Bosnian who arrived in Italy fleeing the war and it is not difficult to imagine how many references to the present can be found in the pages.

These are the books. Then there is the race, which at this point becomes more tense. Tomorrow June 8 you will play a Benevento the semifinal and we will know which will be the five finalists in the running for the podium next 7 July (you can follow the proclamation of the Cinquina in live streaming on Rai Play).

Some predictions can be made at this point. It is very likely that Einaudi will find himself again this year with two books competing, both strong by the way. Mario Desiati with Spatriate has long been considered the favorite. Could the appreciation that Raimo is having bring surprises? Desiati tells the story of the friendship between two Apulian boys who like each other, chase each other, leave each other and find each other. The two books are very different but they meet – we will not say how – in Berlin, for more than one generation, the cult city of a liberating “sentimental education”.

For the rest we will see. This year Adelphi is competing with a pupil of her, Fabio Bacà that in Nova tells with clear irony the story of a neurosurgeon who suddenly begins to question himself about the anger and violence he sees around him, following the noises of his brain. Feltrinelli instead participates with Velvet divorcenovel by the newcomer Jana Karšaiová, the story of a couple who separate against the backdrop of another divorce: the one between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The book, written by the Slovak author in Italian, is a simple story about the Europe of our years, we hope to see him among the five. There is also among the eligible candidates Updated roadmap of all my kisses from Daniela Ranieri (Ponte alle Grazie, Gems group),), whose author likes to extricate herself in her sentimental magna carta, between exhausting love affairs and apparently insignificant flirtations, digressions and thoughts about herself and the world.

There will be no room for everyone, someone will have to stay out. Probably the repechage among the big five of a small publisher: the regulation in fact says that if the finalists all belong to large publishing houses, the first of the independents to be excluded enters. Who will be? Veronica Galletta with Nina on the embankment (minimum fax); Alessandro Bertante with Hit and run (Baldini + Castoldi, group La nave di Teseo); Marino Magliani, Lieutenant Dumont’s telescope (L’Orma); Davide Orecchio, Open story (Bompiani) or Marco Amerighi, Stray (Bollati Boringhieri)?

Last year the Young Witch was won by Edith Bruck with The lost bread (The ship of Theseus).