Title: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, ISBN: 0375422307, Pantheon, Paris, 2003, $17.95, 160 pp.

Genre: Graphical Autobiography/War/Coming of Age/ Social Issues Grades 7-10.

Characters: Marjane Satrapi tells the story of her life from age 6-14, she is living in Iran during the time of the Islamic Revolution and through her voice, and readers are able to grasp a child’s perspective of war. She proves to a very determined, inquisitive, and bright girl who constantly wants to demonstrate with her parents and express herself. At such a young age she is very interested in politics, and can be also looked at as rebellious as she frequently speaks out at school. Her parents are a huge factor in her life; both of them are progressive activists with a goal of providing their only child a well rounded education. They are very caring people who are frequently taking people into their home after facing hardships. There are numerous minor characters mentioned throughout Satrapi’s story such as her grandparents, classmates, family friends, prisoners under The Shah, and Uncle Anoosh who Satrapi particularly admired.

Plot: Marjane Satrapi was born under the regime of the Shah and also lived to see the fall of it. At such a young age she is forced to live through Iran’s revolution and a brutal war with Iraq. Her parents are very active within the issues of their country; there was even a time that her father considered moving to the U.S for the sake of his family’s well being, but decided against it.  Satrapi talks to God many times within the book, yet at times embraces a diabolical feeling of power as she rejects authority and tells off her religion teacher at school. She provides a remarkable insight to her daily life during this time of war. The controversy of female Muslims wearing a veil, political prisoners liberated, transitions from secular schools to a religious ones, friends and families departing from Iran, murders, fundamentalists versus progressives, bombings, food shortages, and children fighting in war were just a few of the real portraits Satrapi provided within her story. Despite all of these devastating occurrences within her life, she also shows the difference of public life in comparison with her private home life. At home her adolescent side is shown, especially when her parents return from a trip with gifts of Nike shoes, a denim jacket, a pin of Michael Jackson, and music posters. Satrapi even made a trip of her own to buy music off of people who sold them on the streets; when spotted by a group of women guardians of the revolution she was immediately criticized for her secular appearance in a public setting.

Despite all of the constant tragedies in affiliation with the war of Iran and Iraq, Satrapi tells an honest story of the history of her country through the eyes of a child. The war situation remained hostile in Iran; therefore her parents decide to send her to Austria with a promise of following her in six months. Her father claims that an Austrian visa is easy to get, his friend lives there, and most importantly there is one of the best French schools in Europe there. Satrapi was scared, but promised to be true to herself and even filled a jar with the soil of her home country. The book ends at the airport as the family says goodbye and Satrapi prepares to leave everything she knows and face the unknown.

Touchy Areas: There are scenes that involve physical and emotional brutality during a time of war, a few profane words, but nothing extremely touchy.

Related Titles: Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return (2004) by Marjane Satrapi, Palestine (2002) by Joe Sacco, In the Shadow of No Towers (2004) by Art Spiegelman.

Movies: Osama (2003), The Shah of Iran (1972), Not Without My Daughter (1991).

Music: Survivor (2001) by Destiny’s Child, We Want Peace (2003) by Lenny Kravitz and Kadim Al Sahir.

Photos: Marjane Satrapi- Iraniana (2003).    

Related websites: Information on the history and culture of Iran (www.iranchamber.com), for information on the war of Iraq and Iran

(www.i-cias.com/e.o/iranirqw.htm).

Art: Hopes (1993) by Ameen Azzawi, At Peace (1994) by Ameen Azzawi.

Poem: Making a Fist (1995) by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Classic Work: War of the Worlds (1898) by H.G Wells.

Evaluation: This was the first graphic novel I had ever read; at first I was somewhat skeptical about how detailed the plot would be considering the numerous pictures included in the story. However, this skepticism vanished as I read and became captivated by the story of this young girl and the truth of the struggle within her country. The pictures were actually a huge asset to the plot and through these pictures I was able to get a better understanding of the emotions of the characters. Overall, this book would be great for people of all descents, and could definitely be taught in a classroom setting. As a Westerner, many of my ideas about Iran were proven to be misconceptions and I ended up becoming better informed of the Middle Eastern culture. I would rate this book 9 out of 10.

Reviewed by: Kara Smith, University of Toledo, DmndDmnd1@aol.com