Making the Most of It; An impressive debut by a 19-year-old novelist who takes an upbeat view of immigrant life outside Paris.(Book Review)

Byline: Jenny Barchfield

Poverty, inequality, racism-- generally speaking, these are not the subjects of comedy. But in her debut novel "Kiffe Kiffe Demain" (193 pages. Hachette Litteratures. French edition) , 19-year-old Faiza Guene manages to transform these sour ingredients into a lighthearted bonbon of a book. The daughter of Algerians who immigrated to Paris some 20 years ago, Guene draws extensively on personal experience in her enchanting coming-of-age tale about a second-generation Moroccan in France.

In "Kiffe Kiffe," Guene takes readers across the proverbial tracks--in this case, the superhighway that divides Paris proper from the sprawling ghettos that surround it--to her home in the projects. Not since director Matthieu Kassovitz's 1995 hit film "Hate" has there been such a compelling portrait of the Parisian suburbs: drug-dealers on the street corners amid massive, dilapidated housing projects. But unlike Kassovitz's bleak movie, which ends with two young men aiming guns at each other's head, Guene's book is uplifting and ultimately optimistic.

French reviewers have been quick to compare "Kiffe Kiffe Demain" ("More of the Same Tomorrow") to "Bridget Jones's Diary," and, given the main character's spunky, slightly self-deprecating attitude, it's easy to see why. But Doria--a volatile mix of adolescent insecurity, misguided bravado and tenderness--has a lot more than cigarettes, calories and snogging on her mind. Desperate for a male heir, Doria's good-for-nothing father has ...