#10DayChallenge

Coming of age

The real challenge is stayin’ alive. The real challenge is life.

When school starts again, fifteen-year-old Michelangelo isn’t the same: the summer has taken away the grandfather he was so close to, forcing him to deal with death for the first time. All that remains now of the afternoons they spent together, observing the plants, their hands in the soil, are faded photos and that unfillable emptiness inside him. One afternoon, his best friend Sabatino proposes driving away his sadness with a #10daychallenge, so Miki lets himself be talked into it, setting in motion a growing whirlwind of tests that are fun at first but become increasingly dangerous and senseless, leading him to take huge risks in order to exorcise his fear. The only one who doesn’t fall under the spell of his challenges is Erica, a girl at art school who is committed to protecting the environment: chatting with her motivates Michelangelo to reflect and grow, and experience emotions that surpass any danger…

  • A story that aims to give teenagers a voice.
  • A journey of discovery through teenage angst.
  • A story about the grief process, the pain that explodes and leaves us shattered, the attraction of thrill-seeking due to an inner void, and the relationships that save us.
Publisher: Edizioni Lapis
Target: 12+
Year: 2023
Author
Daniele Nicastro

Daniele Nicastro was born in 1978. He currently lives in a small village in the province of Cuneo, where he writes everything: novels, postcards, messages in bottles and phrases on the walls. He began telling stories as a boy, to his mother, whenever he came home late without warning her. Over time he made a profession out of it. He made his debut with the novel Grande, which won the Legenda Junior Prize and was shortlisted for the Bancarellino Prize 2018. He has consolidated experience in several genres, from adventure novels to funny stories, but always focused on themes related to growing up.

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