I'm wrapping up 2025 Novellas in November by reviewing the last three short novels I've read for the challenge.
We the Animals by Justin Torres
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. 128 pages.
This short novella is set in upstate New York. Three mixed-race boys tear through their childhoods both wild and imaginative. Their parents love each other but often do battle or disappear in a myriad of ways, leaving the three on their own for food or supervision. There is a euphoria to belonging to others like these boys belong to each other. The youngest of the three is unnamed throughout and the narrator of the story. He realizes throughout that he will eventually have to leave this bound as he views the world differently than his brothers. Described as "a coming-of-age story that is sly and punch-in-the-stomach powerful."
I'd describe We the Animals as a boy book. It reminded me of a cross between The Clockwork Orange (violence and destruction); Catcher in the Rye (lost/confused boy(s) on the loose in a city); and Lord of the Flies (boys left to their own destructive devices). The three brothers, written in the incantatory royal "we", are growing up almost feral. When I checked other ratings and reviews on Goodreads, males rated the book generally higher than female readers (an observation, not scientific) which makes sense to me. I couldn't even begin to relate to these boys and how they kept themselves busy. For example, in one scene the boys sit around the table wearing raincoats and smash tomatoes with a hammer. (The mess!) I appreciated the writing techniques, which were quite unique, and the story under the story about trying to find oneself (LGBTQ) but I still didn't care for it.
This book came to my attention when it was listed on the NYT Best Books of the 21st Century last year. My recommendation, however, is lukewarm with a rating of 3 stars.
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Scribner, 2025. 176 pages.
Seascraper is described as a "mesmerizing portrait of a young man hemmed in by his class and the ghosts of his family's past, dreaming of artistic fulfilment." The story is set in Longferry, a fictional coastal town in northwest England. It is based on the author's hometown of Southport. Thomas lives with his single mother on the edge of abject poverty. He dutifully goes to the beach with his loyal, working horse every day to scrape up the few shrimp he can find. He does this work because it is what he was taught to do by his grandfather. But his heart isn't in his work. What he wants to do is write songs and, hopefully, perform them in public some day. When Thomas is hired by a Hollywood director, Edgar, to show him around the beach, he starts to see his life through a different lens. The confidence he gains from his interactions with Edgar creak open the doors to another life for Thomas.
Seascraper is one of the group-read books for this year's Novellas in November challenge. I was pretty excited to read it as I'd noticed it was on the Booker Prize longlist, giving it literary cred. But as I started reading it I thought, oh no, I don't think I can read this if scraping for shrimp is all it is. But when Edgar comes to town, Thomas starts to imagine a different life for himself, the book became much more interesting to me.
In the end Thomas even sings and records a song he writes after having a very real dream about his father. I listened to the audiobook and was treated to the actual song, sung beautifully by the author. Lovely.
My rating, 4 stars.
Teacher of Nomad Land: a World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri
Levine Querido, 2025. 192 pages.
The year is 1941. Though Iran is a neutral country in World War II, both the British and Soviet armies are occupying the land and Nazi spies are lurking about.
Bakak and his little sister, Sana, are recently orphaned. Their father, a teacher among the nomads, was killed accidentally by the military, mistakenly thinking the nomads were the enemy. The two children, trying to devise a plan where they can stay together, decide Babak should to take up his father's old job but first they will have to intercept the nomads as they trek toward winter ground. Bakak straps his father's blackboard on his back and carries the textbooks in his arms that he will need. Sana, more resourceful than her brother, is prepared to forage for food.
After being rejected by the nomads, the siblings need to return to their hometown and hatch a new plan. Along the way the meet a Jewish boy who is hiding from a Nazi Spy. Suddenly all the children are in a race for survival. At one point, hungry and afraid, the children seek the help of a British soldier. Can children from different parts of the world find a way to communicate what they need without a common language?
I'll tell you what. I am a Daniel Nayeri fan. This is my second book I've read by him and both were excellent. Three of his published books have won an award: Everything Sad is Untrue won the Printz Award in 2021; The Many Assassinations of Samit, Seller of Dreams won a Newbery Honor in 2024; and this book won the National Book Award in 2025 for best Young People's Literature. The guy can write! And here is the thing. He is writing about stuff I know nothing about, but should. Iranian-born, he brings stories forward that folks in the west know little about. For example, in Teacher of Nomad Land I learned that Iran was a point of interest during WWII because of its oil. The allies didn't want the Nazi's to gain a foothold there because the oil would just enhance their military prowess. Also, Jewish children from Poland were given protection in Iran and eventually transported to Palestine. They were called The Tehran Children.
Nayeri writes for children. This book's audience is for those kids in middle grades, 5-8. I initially thought the book was targeted at young adults until I started reading, then I realized it was aiming for a younger set. That explains the relative quickness of the action along the way. My husband listened to the audiobook with me and we both enjoyed the story a lot but noticed that we weren't the target audience. I actually think, with a little tweaking, it would make a very good adult book. The story is so illuminating. Though a middle grade book, it still qualifies as a novella at 192 pages.
Don's rating: 3.5 stars, mine: 4:5 stars.
-Anne
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