Welcome Readers!
This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on graphic novels. Our main title for May is Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:
In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the coming-of-age story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.
Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love. – Pantheon
Looking for some other graphic novels? Try any of the following.
- Child Star: Hollywood Makes You Grow Up Fast by Box Brown
- Cook Korean! : A Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha
- Go to Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood by Lucy Knisley
- Joseph Smith and the Mormons by Noah Van Sciver
- The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History by David Walker
- The Body Factory: From the First Prosthetics to the Augmented Human by Heloise Chochois
- The Hidden Life of Trees: A Graphic Adaptation by Frederic Bernard
- Shubiek Lubeik by Dina Muhammad
- Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History by Nic Watts
- Under the Banner of King Death: Pirate of the Atlantic by David Lester
- Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser
As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!