I never enjoyed being scared like my peers did. I was the kid who refused to go on roller coasters, was terrified of the dark, and thought the Harry Potter film franchise was in the genre of horror. As I got older, I felt it was time I developed more of a tolerance for spooking myself. I tried to push myself to increase this tolerance by watching movies like IT and The Conjuring, and seeking out horror books. One of the books I ended up liking was Deserter, a horror story collection by Junji Ito, an incredible horror fiction author. Deserter contains 12 short manga stories about 20-50 pages long, showcasing his earlier works. His stories are incredibly imaginative, his artwork is admirable, and the end of each story is bound to send a shiver up your spine and have your eyes darting around your room at the slightest provocation. Seeing as his stories are presented in the form of manga, it would have been quite easy for Ito to simply start with an obviously creepy situation—like a lone child entering a haunted house—proceed with a few well-placed jump scares, and be done with the whole thing. But instead, he starts his stories with something eerie and unknown, often unthought of, and proceeds to take everything we thought we knew about things that go bump in the night and throw it out the window. Ito takes ordinary things that might be a bit awkward, like exotic foods, mixing up identical twins, breakups, and nightmares, and turns them into deadly and horrifying sagas. The stories, like most horror stories, start with strange phenomena: wine not tasting quite right, something being a little off in your best friend’s mannerisms, stories not quite matching up, etc. Some are simply eerie and unsettling, others go right into the gory deaths, and others involve such complex motives that it is impossible to tell hero from villain. Junji Ito’s Deserter is not what I thought I would find when I looked into horror—his stories are captivating. If you would like to find a set of incredibly good stories that just so happen to keep you up at night, Deserter is the book for you. Deserter by Junji Ito. Viz Media, 2021. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Book Reviews
Becoming Pablo Neruda: The Dreamer, Reviewed by Emma, 10
The Dreamer, written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sís, is a unique story based on Pablo Neruda’s childhood. Pablo Neruda was a poet and a communist best known for his collection of love poems and his odes to common things. He was a supporter of the rights of the Mapuche people and the rights of indigenous people in general, and was advisor to Salvador Allende, a former president of Chile with socialist views. Pablo Neruda’s original name was Neftalí Reyes, and The Dreamer guides us through Neftalí’s life until the moment when he chooses his pen name. Though fictionalized, The Dreamer is an interesting story of what went on in Pablo Neruda’s early years (even the title suggests the daydreaming character of Neftalí). The Author’s Note in the back of the book is also worth a read: it gives a brief summary of the parts of Neruda’s life not included in the story. The story begins with Neftalí sick and in bed. He is instructed by his father to stay in bed, and so Neftalí asks his sister, Laurita, to look out the window for him and describe what she sees. When Laurita tells Neftalí about a boot “missing the other,” Neftalí mentions that tomorrow, when he is let out of bed and will be on his way to school, he should pick it up and add it to his collection of odds and ends. This figure of Neftalí, asking Laurita to look out the window for him and cowering in fear of his father, is so different from the Neftalí at the end of the book: the poet figure of Pablo Neruda. In The Dreamer, you also learn about Neftalí’s family members and get multiple perspectives. Neftalí’s father wants Neftalí to stop daydreaming, while—though Neftalí’s stepmother does not say so around his father—she is a supporter of whatever path Neftalí wants to take. Beautiful illustrations are intertwined with verse in The Dreamer. Pam Muñoz Ryan scatters lines that all form a poem that she has written in the end of the book throughout the pages, titled I Am Poetry, which is fitting, seeing as the book is about Pablo Neruda. The poem gives the shapeless concept of poetry many definite forms. I Am Poetry personifies poetry, with many interesting details and descriptions. For example: “I am poetry, lurking in dappled shadow. I am the confusion of root and gnarled branch. I am the symmetry of insect, leaf, and a bird’s outstretched wings.” Every time Neftalí adds something new to his collection of objects (which is a reference to Pablo Neruda’s collection of poetry Odes to Common Things), you learn a new message as Neftalí’s imagination persists despite other people’s expectations. These messages are: don’t let anyone tell you what to do, be imaginative, fight for what you believe in. A lot of these messages are expressed powerfully in Pablo Neruda’s work. For example, in his poem I Explain a Few Things, which he wrote later in life, he shows that he is willing to fight for what he believes in. There are many stanzas in I Explain a Few Things that really show the way Pablo Neruda felt and how his mind worked. For example: “Jackals that the jackals would despise, stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out, vipers that the vipers would abominate! Face to face with you I have seen the blood of Spain tower like a tide to drown you in one wave of pride and knives! Treacherous generals: see my dead house, look at broken Spain : from every house burning metal flows instead of flowers, from every socket of Spain Spain emerges and from every dead child a rifle with eyes, and from every crime bullets are born which will one day find the bull’s eye of your hearts.” Pablo Neruda’s two passions—poetry and political activism—worked well together, and unlike many traditional poets, he was not afraid to express his political views in his poetry. He followed his imagination and his path against the will of his father, and, although some of the events in The Dreamer are fictional, they show this about young Neftalí. For example, when Neftalí finds a library near the beach house he was staying in with his family for summer vacation, he spends his summer reading in his secret hideout: a shack with a small lake in front. The lake is home to two swans, and Neftalí takes care of them. Neftalí doesn’t ever give up writing or advocating for human rights. The Dreamer and the poems of Pablo Neruda inspire us to do the same. The Dreamer is an important story of the life of a famous twentieth century poet… before he became Pablo Neruda. The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sís. Scholastic Paperbacks, 2012. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
The Whole Story of Half a Girl, Reviewed by Aditi, 13
I have always wondered how others live a cross-cultural life. Whether it’s the culture you are born into or trying to understand a different one, this diverse topic continues to fascinate me. Imagine a girl who struggles to juggle her identity since she is half-Indian and half-Jewish. Sonia Nadhamuni is far from normal as she tries to be less than herself. But, what does that mean? Does it mean lying about her culture, fitting in with her new friends, or just giving vague answers when asked about her heritage? Sonia’s life is an absolute mess, but author Veera Hiranandani smooths out a path leading the reader into Sonia’s not so “half” life. “Maybe it would be easier just to be Indian and not have to explain the Jewish part.” This quote resonates with Sonia’s thoughts about herself. For most of the book, she has the mindset that she is either just Indian or just Jewish, not both. Her heritage was never a problem at her expensive private school, where the kids just knew each other and never asked questions. However, Sonia’s close to ‘perfect’ life came to a sudden end when her father lost his job. As a result, her mother had to work more hours, her dad had severe episodes, and worst of all, Sonia and her sister had to attend public school. I felt terrible for Sonia at first, especially when she had to transfer schools. Her life gets turned upside down– she has to adjust to the new surroundings and make new friends. A couple more chapters in, I noticed that Sonia was quite spoiled, and I started to sympathize with those around her. Once she starts at her new school, Sonia quickly finds herself wavering between a group of popular girls and kids who would consider themselves introverts. Kate, a popular white girl, has a controlling friendship with Sonia, while Alisha, a nerdy Black girl, has a heart of gold. After making the cheerleading team as an alternate, Sonia learns that to fit in she first needs to be true to herself. The Whole Story of Half a Girl is a fast-paced young adult novel encompassing the true nature of middle school, adorned with the hard truth of reality. Throughout the book, Hiranandani offers the question of one’s heritage and identity. This made me ponder my heritage, and I connected with Sonia in many ways. Still, while she tried explaining that she is American Indian, Indian from India, I started to smile, knowing that even I had to explain my heritage to my friends. All in all, The Whole Story of Half a Girl is a spellbinding book, and I couldn’t enjoy it more. The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani. Yearling Books, 2013. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!