It's not easy to be the bud of an uprooted tree ... That's what seventeen-year-old GanaÞelle thinks and lives. Emigrated from sub-Saharan Africa and the country for almost three years, she tries to become a full Canadian, but comes up against the negative attitude of her parents. Parents who don't seem the same to her since the family took refuge in Ottawa. Her mother, above all, has changed. From an autonomous woman, loving and full of humor, she has become dependent, withdrawn and the anger that gnaws at her sometimes leads to violence. GanaÞelle has no one to confide in. She feels terribly alone. It is on the lined pages of school notebooks that she recounts her dismay, her rage and the loneliness that grips her. So as not to suffocate.