My May

Dima unexpectedly receives a message from a girl he likes, inviting him to help prepare an article for the city newspaper. The whole class dyes their hair different colors to show the teacher that she is wrong. Andrei has to do his homework in pairs with a classmate he dislikes, but in the end, he sees her as a person and realizes that judging someone only by their appearance is not the best solution...

This is a collection of stories about the lives of teenagers, where the main character of one story can end up being a participant in another. This creates the effect of a cohesive novel, but without a plot, climax, and resolution — just like in life. The characters in the book go to school, travel during vacation, fall in love, dream — nothing unusual. But in these seemingly modest stories lies a delicate poetry, spring light, and a sense of happiness simply because you live. By reading the stories of Polina Shcherbak, you find yourself and, together with the author, learn to love the world as it is.

Polina Shcherbak (born 1991) — educator, children’s and teenage writer, winner of the Salamandra competition and the Kora short story festival, scholarship holder of the Ministry of Culture.

Anastasia Batishcheva is an illustrator from St. Petersburg. For several years she drew animated films, and now — books for children and adults. A finalist in the international competition of contemporary illustration in Macau in 2022, actively collaborates with publishers.