Demishkevich A. D30 Once a Boy, Twice a Boy [novel] / Asya Demishkevich. — Moscow: Alpina Non-Fiction, 2024. — 192 pages. ISBN 978-5-00223-240-6 Andrey is thirteen, and at school he is called the son of a zombie woman, since he lied for half a year that his mother was alive, although she died. He has a difficult relationship with his father and stepmother, so the stepmother decides to get rid of the boy by sending him to the army. Initially, the presence of a child there seems strange and unnatural. But soon it turns out that among his comrades there are many much stranger people. Asya Demishkevich's novel, written in the traditions of Russian fairy tales, simultaneously upholds and shatters the fairy tale canon. Before the reader unfolds a picture where archetypes and folklore characters acquire a new, frighteningly topical embodiment. UDC 821.161.1-312.9 BBK 84(2=411.2)6-445.1