“Soupy Leaves Home” by Cecil Castellucci and Jose Pimienta, in which a lot of people leave home and don't come back

 

Soupy Leaves Home, is a classic historical adventure. I used to listen to books that were like this graphic novel on book on tape all the time. As children, I and my siblings loved learning about how people lived back in the olden times, and the various hijinks they experienced. This book is a little more adult than what we might listen to, but I don’t think it’s any more disturbing than To Kill A Mockingbird.

            The story is about a teenage girl, who adopts the term Soupy after disguising herself as a man and leaving her abusive father and helpless aunt, to become a hobo. She befriends a kind, wise old man named Remy, who teaches her how to survive a life on the run.

            The narrative is enjoyable, with a lot of introspection and character building moments. The characters of Remy and the other hoboes are instantly endearing, and the drama feels natural and downplayed. We get some very tender moments with Soupy’s aunt reflecting on her own disappointment in life and Remy talking about not being the person he needed to be for his wife and daughter. The different story beats are familiar, but not in a hackneyed way. More in an old friend way, and I think that’s why the story reminds me so much of historical fiction I read and listened to as a child. The story is just a nice reflection on an individual’s adventures during this period of time. The depression was a crushing hour in American history, but there’s nothing about the book that feels melodramatic or heavy-handed. Instead, it is an honest reflection of how these people lived, with occasional dips into the social and political conflicts of the time.

            But I think the best achievement of the story is the illustrations. Remy has a knack for telling stories, he has a vast knowledge that he enjoys sharing you and other people enjoy listening to. As a result, we get a lot of scenes where the illustrators can break out of the plain, warm surroundings of the story, and depict a lot of intricate, surreal scenes. The character designs are pretty simple, but the use of color in different sections and the loving depictions of nature and 1930s America make for some great imagery.

            I would highly recommend this book. Again, there weren’t any parts that were really surprising, but it made for a very contemplative experience.

Image taken for review purposes. You can support the authors by purchasing the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Soupy-Leaves-Home-Cecil-Castellucci/dp/1616554312.