cover image Postcards from France

Postcards from France

Megan McNeill Libby. HarperCollins Publishers, $13.95 (128pp) ISBN 978-0-06-101169-6

Sophisticated and captivating, this collection of 12 essays by a 15-year-old American exchange student was originally published as a monthly series of articles in the Ridgefield Press of Connecticut, in her hometown. Sent by the American Field Service, Libby spent 10 months of 1994- 95 in Valence, between Lyon and Avignon, where she learned much about France, America and herself. For three and a half months, she suffered acute language problems, but found one day, sitting in a cafe, that she could speak as well as understand. Probably her greatest shock was the difference in teenage life: French young people can drink at 16 but cannot drive until 18; most smoke; they go to school six days a week, with seven hours in class and four doing homework, so there is little socializing but plenty of learning. She found the cliche that the French live to eat accurate but was surprised to find few became fat; in fact, she lost 20 pounds. Above all, she discovered little truth to the truism that the French are rude or hostile to Americans. Her writing is ingenuous, warm and, in spots, most touching. (Mar.)