Paracuellos

*Paracuellos* is the sprawling, multi-volume masterpiece by the renowned Carlos Giménez. In it, he portrays daily life in the *Auxilio Social* (Social Aid) homes during the post-Civil War Francoist era, always from the children's perspective. The stories that make up the series are based on the real-life experiences of the author—who grew up in one of these institutions—and those of his childhood peers. Its pages are populated by the orphans and the forgotten left in the wake of the Civil War, with their anecdotes, games, and comic-book heroes; the Falangists who sought to instill the "national spirit" in them; mothers separated from their children; and the ever-present hunger and loneliness.