Author Véronique Drouin  has won the Prix Jeunesse Des Univers Parallèles 2021 (Youth Prize for Parallel Universes) for her science fiction novel Thérapie de choc [Shock Therapy] (Les Malins), first novel in the C.R.A.A.V. series.

The novel by Véronique Drouin multiplies the shocking scenes in the tradition of horror cinema while presenting a young girl who will gain confidence and determination over the trials which manifest themselves at the Rehabilitation Center for Anxious and Vulnerable Adolescents (CRAAV). In contact with young people marked like her by trauma and through group therapy, Marion slowly manages to overcome her anxiety and her fears.

The award is given to the best children’s sff novel by vote of high school students in Quebec. Lower secondary students wishing to participate in the choice of winner read these novels during the 2020-2021 school year as part of the French course or as members of their library’s book club.

The school year having been greatly disrupted by the pandemic, the number of students who were able to read the three finalist novels was far below the average recorded since the creation of the prize in 2006. Only five schools were able to register the choice of their participating students for a total of 95 votes.