Well, whether you know what happened or just nod your head in public, but cannot seem to recall when, where, why or how this happened (the Middle East, right?), Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi provides some background and first hand perspective on what went down.
Marjane writes/draws her memoir of what happened to her and her family during the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the late 1970s/early '80s. Her parents are revolutionaries, her father is a Marxist, and her mother demonstrates against the Shah, who is in power at the beginning of the novel. Marjane is a bright girl and she latches onto her parents beliefs, reading up on the movement, Marx, and all sorts of other social theory. The country goes from a somewhat publicly rigid place to a hugely rigid Islamic run country once the revolution is over. Suddenly, being a rebellious, free-thinking girl is dangerous. Head scarfs must be worn in public and women who wear modern-ish clothing are whores. Satrapi's parents must watch who they speak to and what they say about their beliefs because the wrong viewpoint can land them in jail as political prisoners or worse. At the end of this novel, Satrapi is fourteen and her parents decide it is best to get her out of the country, which is in turmoil, so they send her to school in Austria.
The novel is humorous, especially when Satrapi, as a young girl, claims to have unique perspective, but only repeats what she hears from her parents. This is a tactic used throughout the novel. Satrapi, as an adult author, is aware that she was heavily influenced by others, but so are all children when their young. Parents and family member's beliefs are iron clad to kids, and the reader is made aware of this fact in a clever way throughout the novel. At the same time this is a very serious graphic novel dealing with war, political beliefs, death, and imprisonment. Satrapi's voice rings clear through both the writing and the cartoons. The drawings are all in black and white, which you can interpret whichever way you please.
Although I usually see this book applied to the young adult audience, it is a perfect crossover book for adults as well. Graphic novels are a fantastic medium for some stories and this is a great example of that.
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