We The Animals vividly evokes that moment in your childhood when anything and everything could be imagined. Curtains, ketchup, spanish rice, body heat; all could become fantasy for the three working class boys who inhabit the story. Ma and Paps, however, carry their own brokenness, and Torres masterfully captures how that produces so much uncertainty and tension in boys who have not learnt how to articulate those feelings. At any moment, a picture of joy could descend into a beating. The story is presented in poignant and beautiful episodes, almost as if the narrator is searching through his memory. My only gripe is that the ending came too abruptly. Favorite line: “When it was cold, we fought over blankets until the cloth tore down the middle. When it was really cold, when our breath came out in frosty clouds, Manny crawled into bed with Joel and me. “Body heat,” he said. “Body heat,” we agreed. We wanted more flesh, more blood, more warmth.” Rating: 4/5