• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 8 to 12
• Reading age: 12 to 18

Sixteen-year-old Ani lives in the tiny Quebec town of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre, where her family runs Saintly Souvenirs, a tourist shop catering to the many pilgrims who come to the town seeking a miracle.

The bane of Ani's existence is her hyperactive, over-sexed younger sister, Colette. Ani and her mother, Therese, are devout Catholics; Colette and her father are not. When Therese is paralyzed after a freak accident, Aniís faith is tested, but when she is confronted with something shocking in her mother's past, she has to rethink her whole existence.

MONIQUE POLAK écrit régulièrement pour le Montreal Gazette et a été publiée dans de nombreux autres quotidiens de renom tels que le Globe and Mail, le National Post et Newsday. Dans la collection SideStreets, elle a écrit All In et On the Game, ainsi que Flip Turn pour la collection Sports Stories. D’ailleurs, ces deux derniers ouvrages ont figuré sur la liste des meilleurs livres pour enfants du Centre du livre jeunesse canadien. Monique enseigne l’écriture ainsi que la littérature anglaise. Elle vit à Montréal, au Québec, avec son mari et sa fille.

 

MONIQUE POLAK is the author of 26 novels for young readers, as well as two non-fiction titles and a board book. Her books Hate Mail, Room for One More, and the historical novel What World is Left, which was inspired by her mother’s experience during the Holocaust, were all winners of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s and YA Literature.

 

Her books have also been nominated for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and the Arthur Ellis Award, and several have been selected as Best Books for Children and Teens by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

 

She is also a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Macleans, and Postmedia newspapers across the country, and is a columnist on ICI Radio-Canada’s Plus on est de fous, plus on lit Monique lives in Montreal, Quebec, where she teaches English and Humanities at Marianopolis College.

Monique Polak's profile page

• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens
• Commended, TriState Young Adult Book Review Committee Book of Note

"The setting of each one [of Polak's novels is] as eye-opening and world-expanding as the last...Few will be able to resist the pacing of this very personal mystery."

Montreal Gazette

"Polak maintains a tone that is understanding and contemplative as she probes the questions, doubts and fears of many of the characters, both teen and adult, in her work...[An] outstanding, dare I say heavenly, young adult novel! Highly Recommended."

CM Magazine

"Dealing with themes of religion, faith, miracles, and family, Miracleville is a thoughtful book for mid teen readers who are looking for a deeper read."

Amy's Marathon of Books

"An involving coming-of-age novel for girls who love realistic fiction...All of the characters are skillfully drawn, and each one of them faces personal challenges and struggles that are very realistically portrayed. The book will encourage students to think deeply about issues that many other books treat superficially...While religion plays a strong part in the story, it is presented in a very open-ended, broad way that will speak to all readers, whether they are religious or not."

Tri-State YA Book Review Committee

"A wonderful coming-of-age story...Polak's writing is smooth and easy to follow, and there are enough plot twists to keep you flipping pages to find out what happens next. Her imagery and descriptions of the beautiful buildings in Sainte-Anne made it easy to picture the town and follow Ani throughout her journey...A beautiful book! The cover is simple but stunning, and sure to catch your eye...I definitely recommend it to teens who are coming of age who are unsure how religion can work within society and culture nowadays."

Beyond the Bookshelf blog

"Ani and Colette are such wonderful characters, it’s a simple joy just to spend time with them in their small town. Polak writes candidly about Ani’s intimate feelings without any exploitation or sensationalism. Miracleville is not only a great book for girls, but also for boys who may actually learn to understand girls."

Author

"There were shocking events and heart-wrenching scenes, all leading to a realistic and fitting ending...The characters were believable and the plot kept me turning the pages."

Washington State Young Adult Review Group

"I fell in love with Ani almost from the beginning of this book. Yes, she's a stereotypical 'good girl,' but she's also struggling with her goodness and the desire for more...[This is] a quiet, character-driven novel about a teenage girl trying to find her place in the world...This book will find an audience with the many girls I know who love contemporary realistic fiction stories."

The Next Best Book blog

"The novel is steeped in Catholic rituals and...written with short, simple sentences. Polak packs many messages into Miracleville...[which] will work best with teens living in rural areas and those familiar with Catholic traditions."

VOYA

"In this sensitive examination of the complexities of faith, Polak...captures the perplexing nuances of a town whose economy depends on and caters to pilgrim tourists, which affects the beliefs of local inhabitants, creating both skeptics and devout believers."

Publisher's Weekly

"This delightful novel mixes modern-day issues and problems with age-old beliefs about miracles and faith. Ani, her parents, and her wild sister, Colette, all falter at some point, some longer than others, but come back around to the stability and consistency that only true faith can provide."

Berwyn Public Library

"Ani's characters is great because she's obviously trying to come to terms with growing up, her friends' and sister's emergent sexuality, problems within her family, and uniting this with her Catholic faith. These struggles make her a more interesting and sympathetic character."

Resource Links

"Miracleville's use of Ani's voice, present tense, and frequent dialogue propels the plot, and allows for identification with this girl's quest for identity...The tone is brisk, often comical and straightforward, yet there is a keen sense of observation in the precise detail."

Canadian Literature

Miracleville

Miracleville by Monique Polak is similarly set in a small town, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec. Ani’s family runs Saintly Souvenirs, a small gift shop that caters to the neverending stream of tourists who flock to this town in search of miracles. The historic basilica is a fundamental part of Ani’s life, not only because it draws the myriad of visitors from whom their livelihood is derived, but also because of the comfort that she finds in the rules and rituals of her Catholic faith. As the responsible older sister, Ani has always felt the need to look out for her overly exuberant and uninhibited sister Colette. When their mother suffers a life-changing accident, Ani feels even more pressure to parent and protect her sister. But Ani has numerous questions of her own and as she discovers plenty of shocking secrets in her small world, she is forced to re-examine herself, her faith and many of the things that she has grown up believing. Ani’s quest for answers about such profound issues as sexuality, identity, spirituality and the nature of belief is not in itself unique, but the backdrop of this small Quebec town, steeped as it is in Catholic tradition and fervour, provides readers with a different perspective.

Miracleville

Ani is 16 and lives in the tiny town of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec where her family run a souvenir shop. Ani and her sister could not be more different and Ani feels she must protect the younger girl. When Ani’s mom has an accident, and Ani finds out about something shocking in her mother’s past, she questions her whole existence and how she wants to live her life.