Two of the best-loved Italian children's authors, a powerful story, two Italo-Maghrebi brothers and their difficult life in the suburbs.

On the outskirts of Turin, a city in the midst of an identity crisis, stands the Barriera di Milano district, a blend of colours and cultures, poverty and violence, anger for the present and fear for the future. And if you’re a half-Maghrebi, half-Italian boy, it’s hard not to feel like you’re in a cage.

This is the story of 16-year-old Yasin, caught between first love and wanting to belong: to a family, a society, a group of friends.

But it’s also the story of Malik, his older brother, who has already been to prison and made choices he can’t easily go back on.

Between them is a special girl Aria, a fiery character and a tragic fate that screams out for revenge. Or justice.

• Universal themes addressed: the crisis of parental expectations, the relationship between brothers, love and sexual identity, juvenile delinquency.

• A language that expresses the alternating voices of the two unforgettable main characters, in a balance between coming of age, romance and noir.
• A cross-section of our society, where the new generations grow up without identity labels, caught between worlds that only appear poles apart to adults.
• A gripping story, from the first to the last page, with a complex interweaving of unpredictable and surprising endings.

MANLIO CASTAGNA

A screenwriter, director and film critic, for over twenty years Manlio has been involved in organising the Giffoni festival, for which he was deputy artistic director from 2007 to 2018. He made his debut in fiction with the bestselling Petrademone trilogy, published by Mondadori and translated into various languages. He has recently published Le belve (The Beasts), written with Guido Sgardoli, I venti del Male (The Evil Twenty), La notte delle malombre (The Nights of the Malombre), which got a Special Mention at the Cento Prize 2021, Alice resta a casa (Alice stays at home), written with Marco Ponti, and 116 film da vedere prima dei 16 anni (116 films to see before you’re 16).

MARCO MAGNONE