“Little Ones” Blurs Lines Between Graphic Narratives and Prose https://ift.tt/UYeSsXR
Grey Wolfe LaJoie’s debut story collection, Little Ones, mixes fairy tales, fables, and the bizarre for one wholly original and quite dazzling book. In these pages, in which animals abound and the line separating graphic and prose stories blurs, LaJoie gives us memorable tales of a locksmith, bedtime stories, the end times, the Pope, and much more.
LaJoie captivates early on with “The Locksmith,” a story that won the 2023 O. Henry Prize and was also a 2024 Pushcart Prize recipient. We know this about the titular character: “He likes to think about the number zero. He likes to think about time travel. He likes to think about shadows. He has watched many videos on each of these subjects.” We also learn that he gets around via a bicycle because he “is not allowed a driver’s license,” isn’t a great speaker, student, or smiler, has few relationships – even distant ones, and can scare a kid into appropriate behavior by seemingly just being. But why does he do these things and have these characteristics? We don’t really know. And that’s the beauty of this story and this character. LaJoie writes with a way that allows so much to remain hidden, and there’s a strange beauty in what is absent. In fact, this absence haunts.
As I read and re-read “The Locksmith,” I kept thinking of Aimee Bender’s wonderful story “The Leading Man” — the connections, keys and locks, all that remains a mystery.
“Snek & Goose,” which revolves around a bedtime story from a goose named Goose to a snake named Snek, is another standout prose story in Little Ones. By the story’s end, we see an animal’s view of the human world, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking, especially in the closing two lines, which I won’t spoil here.
An animal – this time a dead, run-over raccoon with a big personality – takes center stage again in the closing story, “Frank.” The titular character slowly rots and decays, and we go along with him as he journeys further into his afterlife.
In the stories that use the graphic form, it’s “How Come All the Schools Shutted Down” that leaves the strongest impact. LaJoie presents the story as a torn pamphlet that is “a guide for children living in the end times.” The pamphlet covers advice about valuing the little time that remains, acceptance, handling anger, and more. This story, like several in the collection, balances darkness and despair with moments of humor. As the world seems to be dying, LaJoie’s story gives us this clever reminder: “If this doesn’t help, little else will. Though it is still a good idea to wear sun-screen, avoid irradiated canned-goods, and never talk to strangers.” I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Unfished, Unfinished” is another one of the memorable graphic stories in this collection. In broken, loose frames, the story, which grows more broken and looser, touches on anxiety, worry, control, and fear. The true meaning, like with “The Locksmith,” remains with the reader.
As stated, the stories collected here cover a vast territory in regards to thematic and structural approach. The whole thing still feels connected, and much of that connection comes from the appreciation of the natural world — the animals and the buzzing of life (and silence of death). Maybe it’s the Alabama connection we share, but I kept seeing home. And it felt real and true.
Little Ones is the kind of debut you don’t forget. More than that, it’s the kind of book that makes one eager and excited for what the author does next. For readers looking for a book that does something new, here it is: Grey Wolfe LaJoie’s Little Ones.
SHORT STORIES Little Ones
By Grey Wolfe LaJoie
Hub City Press
Published October 08, 2024
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