The Scarecrow

“Everyone in the class surrounded me and enthusiastically looked me over. And I stood up, and my little smile stretched my mouth again—I can’t stand being stared at up close. Valka shouted, ‘Mouth to the ears—tie strings on if you have to!’ Vasilev stuck his fingers in his mouth, pulled his lips into place, made terrible faces, and yelled, ‘I can do that too! I’ve also got a mouth to the ears—tie strings on if you have to!’ And the shaggy one, choking on laughter, asked, ‘So whose are you?’ …” “Чучело” (The Scarecrow) is a story about teenagers—the vulnerability of a child’s soul. A sad, lyrical, and cruel tale of a kind, sincere girl whom classmates call “the Scarecrow.” In 1983, based on this book, Roland Bykov made a feature film starring Christina Orbakaite in the leading role.