Fabio Genovesi with his latest novel ‘Chi manda le onde’ (Who sends the waves), published by Mondadori, came first in the second edition of the Strega Giovani Award, which is the award of young readers. The winner was announced on 8 June 2015 in the presence of Laura Boldrini, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the award was officially given on 2 July at Villa Julia in Rome, together with a cheque for EUR 3000.

The award Strega Giovani is determined by a jury, consisting of 400 young readers, aged between 16 and 18, representing 44 Italian high schools plus 3 more schools abroad (Berlin, Bucharest, and Paris). Each school selects a group of ten students, who chose Genovesi’s novel among the twelve nominated books, competing for the main Strega award.

The vivid and fresh style of Genovesi as well as the topics in his novel, referring to friendship, melancholy, ironizing the other that traditionally captivate the young audience, made the jury vote for him on the internet and his novel ended up with 69 votes. Second came Zerocalcare with his graphic novel ‘Dimentica il mio nome’ (Forget my name) with 47 votes and the third place was for Elena Ferrante with her novel ‘Storia della bambina perduta’ (Story of a lost girl) with 35.

In the competition for the main Strega Award, Fabio Genovesi was among the five finalists and came fourth with 123 votes in total.

The winner of La Strega Award for 2015 with 145 votes is Nicola Lagioia with his novel ‘La ferocia’ (The Fury), published by Einaudi.