This story was born from the discomfort felt by Marie-Célie Agnant when her son, aged seven or eight, asked her, while they were on their way to school in an upscale neighborhood of Montreal: "Why, here, are black women walking white babies?

"Twenty small steps" are those that separate us from the Other, often overlooked, invisible by our society, but ultimately so close to us. For example, house workers, the homeless or just the next door neighbor.

“I then started to watch the comings and goings behind the muslin curtains. Then I decided to invent a story that could be hers, to imagine her life, when she did not yet have this job as a servant with the neighbor."

A book on separation, on exile, but also on stories, lived and invented.

CareOf Publishing reissues Le Noël de Maïté and 20 petits pas vers Maria in ebook, to read on all digital supports.
And to learn while having fun, you will find games and small fun exercises at the end of these two novels. This supplement is intended as an educational support, whether for the school environment, or for having fun at home on your tablet, in order to encourage young readers to understand the context, and to go a little further in reading.