Léonie Lado is a vibrant grade 11 student from St. Paul High School in the west end of Ottawa. She was selected as one of five students in Canada to participate in the Radio-Canada contest, “combat des livres jeunesse.” Each student chose a French novel for the competition and was challenged to defend a specific aspect of their book in each round of the competition.
Léonie chose the Edith Kabuya novel, “Victoire-Divine tome 1: Déclaration de guerre” because it deconstructed themes of racism, stereotypes and discrimination. Author Edith Kabuya shared a message of thanks to Léonie on the radio program thanking the St. Paul student for choosing her novel. Kabuya said that she would cross her fingers for her and wished her all the best in the competition.
The author’s well-wishes certainly paid off as Léonie came out on top in the competition, winning the judges and author over with her thoughtful defence of the book. Listen to Léonie’s defence of Victoire-Divine and make sure you scroll to the bottom to catch Léonie and Edith Kabuya’s reaction to winning the contest.
Learn more about French at the OCSB
The Ottawa Catholic School Board recognizes the importance of both of Canada’s official languages. We offer the same excellent pathways for students to learn French at all of our schools, so your child never needs to change schools for French programming. Whether your child explores Extended French or Immersion pathways in elementary or works towards a Core French or Immersion Certificate in high school, your local Ottawa Catholic school has options for your family.