This is a good story presented in a magnificent manner. So far, this has been my experience with the work Stephen Graham Jones. A perfectly good idea is put forth, but with such love and decorum, it nestles into your soul. Nobody else writes quite like Mr. Jones.

We spend the 109 pages of Mapping the Interior inside the head of a twelve year old boy. We tag along as he deals with the death/absence of his father, a mother that must work all the time to make ends meet, a brother with a seizure disorder, and struggles with his heritage on top of all that.

Despite some truly horrifying and gory substance, the strength lies in the emotional impact that Jones is able to convey throughout the story. I love a good coming-of-age story, but add an affecting relationship between two brothers, and forget it, you can consider me hooked. The set-up was stellar, but the way this relationship goes on to play out through the climax of the story only served to endear me to this story that much more.