Persepolis

Sartrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis. NY: Pantheon.

Summary: Marji is a young girl that is growing up during the Islamic Revolution. She goes from a liberal French school to having to wear a veil in a religious school. Her parens are fervent Marxists and Marji wants to go to demonstrations with them. As the Revolution continues, Marji's friends and family are injured and even killed by the new regime. When a close friend is killed, Marji becomes a rebel and is expelled from school. Her parents fear that Marji will be imprisoned if she continues with her rebel ways. They send her away to a boarding school in Austria to keep her safe.
Commentary: I believe conflict is the biggest characteristic of this book. Marji experiences conflict in many different ways. Marji experiences spiritual conflict when she loses her faith in God after so many bad things happen to her family. She also experiences conflict with society as the Islamic Revolution rages around her and she does not believe in it. She is also in conflict with her parents over her rebellious nature. Unfortunately, in the end of the book most of the conflict has not been resolved which often happens in life.
Connections: Teacher Resources, Book Trailer, Book Review, Author Interview
Similar Books: Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned by Judd Winick; The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar; Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
Textbook Connections: When I was reading Persepolis, I thought that it could lead students into informational books about the Middle East.