• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

This work of historical fiction deals with the occupation of Quebec by the Canadian Army and the massive imprisonment of French-speaking Canadian artists and trade unionists, based on the pretext of two political kidnappings.

In October 1970, 21 days was the legal limit, under the War Measures Act, during which the Canadian government could hold prisoners incommunicado without charging them or justifying their arrest. Gaetan is 16. He has quit school, works in a factory in Montreal’s Saint-Henri district, and finds himself embroiled in a political conflict. His good friend is arrested for taking part in a union meeting, his father, for speaking out too loudly about city elections held during the crisis. By chance, Gaetan meets Louise, a young college student who, although she is from a different background and is involved with radical friends, takes a keen interest in him. In this troubled period of Quebec’s and Canada’s history, young people are confronted with unrelenting factory work, unemployment, harsh police and military action, and imprisonment, but also, hope, political commitment and first love.

Magali Favre's profile page

P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Magali Favre is a writer and former teacher. She is the author of six young adult novels.

P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>“Gifted in depicting historical situations, Magali Favre offers readers a lively, well-written story, inspired with humanity.” —Lurelu magazine

“21 Days in October is an interesting historical story … an excellent book for discussion in social science and history lessons that relate to Quebec. Favre's writing moves at a quick pace, and expertly conveys many ideas and issues. ... Gaétan is a well-rounded character who develops new ideas and has new experience, which Favre uses to illustrate the issues of a generation growing up in Quebec in the 1970s." —Caroline Chung, resourcelinksmagazine.ca

“With this subtle and human revisiting of that that ultra-tense October 1970 and the cultural effervescence and political awakening of the time, Magali Favre provides teenagers with a wonderful lesson in history and hope.” —Louis Cornellier, Le Devoir

"21 Days in October is a compassionate telling of Gaétan's story and of a people's story. The novel offers an important perspective for adults of any age, especially those who may not have lived in Quebec through the Quiet Revolution and during the October Crisis." —Deanna Radford, Montreal Review of Books