Mortal Kombat and other 90s

A manuscript found in the attic will catch Kirill's eye. "Mortal Kombat" - what is that, a title? Are they stories? "Read it," - after a moment's thought, Evgenia Ovchinnikova will sigh, - "they are about my childhood in the nineties." And Kirill will immediately plunge into these stories, as we hope you will too.
A girl named Zhenya sells New Year trees and embarks on a chase after a thief who sneaked into the market. She catches a cow that has escaped from the village. She crosses her fingers so that the lights don’t go out at home the very moment "Mortal Kombat" starts on television. The collection of stories about the past is framed by a story from the present - about how a nephew came to visit the author. That girl Zhenya, who eagerly hunted for the 240th insert from "Turbo" chewing gum, would hardly find common ground with Kirill! And yet, despite the generational differences, they are similar in some way…
Reminiscent of both funny anecdotes and wise parables, the stories balance between adult and teenage literature. The former will recognize their home yard from a quarter-century ago in the town of Kokchetav, while the latter will feel joy in finding much in common with their own lives. And the timid thought: "Were my parents also such children?" is sure to visit those born in the 21st century. Adults will seem just a little closer, clearer - just like that era, which is now turning into literature.
Evgenia Ovchinnikova (born in 1983) began writing after studying at the literary workshop of Andrei Astvatsaturov and Dmitry Orekhov - and she immediately managed to develop her own restrained, slightly ironic style. She has twice been a finalist in the All-Russian "Kniguru" competition, including with the manuscript "Mortal Kombat and Other 90s".