Proud of the 350,000 copies sold of her children's series and her presence on social networks, the popular novelist Marie Potvin offers a new intrigue with a background of romance to her young readers, A Thousand Pages Later. She describes the daily life of a high school student who devours book after book. Her life changes when she finds herself stuck at the table of a noisy trio of boys in her plastic arts class.

Her new novel is aimed at teens ages 12 and up.

"It's a little older than Model Girls, because of the themes I cover in the book," Marie Potvin said in an interview.

"It's Mary. We are in the romance that burns for a long time! It's a long time before there are things that happen. Between that, there is the plot of the girl, all her emotions. I write in the “I” and in the present. I always write my teenage stories like that. »

The writer wanted to portray a great reader in this series.

"The girl's name is Maxim, she's in secondary 3 and all she wants in life is to lock herself in her room, read her novels. She has her stack to read. »

Forced out of her bubble

Marie Potvin observed that there are many young female readers, like her character, who are very present on social networks, who read a lot and submit book reviews on the internet.

“They sometimes read three books in one day! They are really inveterate. I wanted to do a character like that because it looks like me when I was that age. I just wanted to be in my room with my books and my sweets! »

This is what Maxim wants. But on the show, she's frustrated because she doesn't have all the time she wants to read...and her friends overtake her by reading more than her.

“At the same time, a new neighbor comes into the picture and tells her the truth to her face. In plastic arts, she sits with three guys who are not so good hockey players...", adds the author.

Marie Potvin reveals that this is a situation that she herself experienced in secondary 3.

“I was sitting at a table with three party guys, very hot, a little older. Over time, I became friends with them and that's what I want Maxim to experience. In volume 2, she goes to a first party. She's with older people and doesn't really know how to act. »

Maxim, she adds, is the withdrawn type, who is good with his books, in his room.

"She's not trying to look pretty. She's not trying to be popular. She just wants to be in her world... but she finds herself in situations that take her out of her world! »