JULY 28, 2026
PAPERBACK | 4 x 6 | 48 PAGES | $15.00
978-1-954992-37-5
FICTION | CHAPBOOK | SHORT STORY
An object becomes a woman, and the world refuses to adjust its gaze.
In 1934, inside Spokane’s glittering Crescent Department Store, a mannequin awakens to find herself suddenly—impossibly—alive. What begins with a sneeze becomes a darkly enchanting journey through a world that sees her only as an object of beauty. As she learns to move, to speak, to feel, she must also navigate the rigid expectations of womanhood in an era obsessed with perfection and display.
Blending historical detail with a touch of the surreal, Carla Crujido transforms a department‑store icon into a haunting figure of longing and self‑discovery. A story of awakening—both tender and unsettling—The Mannequin invites readers to consider what it means to be made, remade, and finally recognized.
Carla Crujido is the author of the short story collection The Strange Beautiful (Chin Music Press, 2023), which Kirkus Reviews named one of the Best Indie Books of 2024. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her writing has appeared in Moss, Bellingham Review, Crazyhorse, Yellow Medicine Review, Kitchen Table, and elsewhere. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
carlacrujido.com | @carlacrujido
JULY 28, 2026
PAPERBACK | 4 x 6 | 48 PAGES | $15.00
978-1-954992-37-5
FICTION | CHAPBOOK | SHORT STORY
An object becomes a woman, and the world refuses to adjust its gaze.
In 1934, inside Spokane’s glittering Crescent Department Store, a mannequin awakens to find herself suddenly—impossibly—alive. What begins with a sneeze becomes a darkly enchanting journey through a world that sees her only as an object of beauty. As she learns to move, to speak, to feel, she must also navigate the rigid expectations of womanhood in an era obsessed with perfection and display.
Blending historical detail with a touch of the surreal, Carla Crujido transforms a department‑store icon into a haunting figure of longing and self‑discovery. A story of awakening—both tender and unsettling—The Mannequin invites readers to consider what it means to be made, remade, and finally recognized.
Carla Crujido is the author of the short story collection The Strange Beautiful (Chin Music Press, 2023), which Kirkus Reviews named one of the Best Indie Books of 2024. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her writing has appeared in Moss, Bellingham Review, Crazyhorse, Yellow Medicine Review, Kitchen Table, and elsewhere. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
carlacrujido.com | @carlacrujido
