A childhood memoir unlike any other

Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis: The story of a childhood. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. Author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi lived a most unusual childhood, which she shares in her graphic memoir, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. She was born in Iran ten years before the Shah was overthrown, and her circumstances were far from typical: 1) she is the great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor, 2) her parents were liberal-minded Communists and 3) she attended a French non-religious academy in Tehran throughout her childhood. On top of that, her parents actively demonstrated against the Shah, whose father was largely responsible for overthrowing her great-grandfather.

In 1979, the Shah of Iran was deposed during what is known as the Iranian Revolution and his secular government was replaced with an Islamic Republic and Satrapi's daily life changes dramatically. This change is at the heart of Persepolis. Although her parents had protested the Shah and his regime, the changing political climate did not stay stable for long. Iran and Iraq were soon embroiled in a bloody conflict and religious fervor led to dwindling freedoms and suspicion of anything that might demonstrate European influence. As daily life becomes more and more dangerous, Satrapi's parents use their last bit of influence to send their daughter to safely Vienna to study art at the young age of 14.

Satrapi's memoir illustrates not just an outward political conflicts of a country, but a young girl's struggle to come to make sense of how she fits in to a world that is changing so rapidly and dramatically. She references the innocence of her faith as a child and how her school reinterprets the same faith after the Revolution. Her illustrations are done in black and white, shapes are severe and angular with little background detail. Most plates include speech bubbles, which is appropriate since much of the book centers around the discussions she and her parents have in the home. Within the walls of her own home, her parents speak freely in front of her, but she must learn to monitor her words and check her thoughts in order to remain safe.