Persepolis The Story of A Childhood

     Another amazing book that I recently finished is Persepolis The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi. It was a pretty quick read, because it is a graphic novel. I enjoyed the historical aspect of the book. The story is an autobiography about Marjane growing up in Iran in the 1970s and 1980s.The period of time that this story covered included the turbulent times of the Shan of Iran, the Islamic Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq War. The reader is exposed to what a young woman's life was like during oppressive regimes in the middle east, and quite frankly it's not an easy life. I read the first book, there are several others to read as well. Even though Marjane's family wasn't religious, she was forced to wear a veil and attend a religious all girl school after the Islamic Revolution. One time scud missiles from Iraq landed in her neighborhood and killed her Jewish friend. Another time she was accosted by the moral police. Another time she bought items off the black market.
     Critics of her books have suggested she lived a posh life compared to others during this time frame. Her family was well off and could send her to a different country during parts of her life. She answers this by saying in an interview, this was my perception as a ten year old with a different social economic status than most. Her book certainly gives us a glimpse of what it is like living in the middle east during a very turbulent time frame of world history. It is a glimpse we might not have without this book. This book was made into a movie, and this is the movie trailer. I found an interview with the author on youtube. It does have one bad word in it, but the viewer can listen to her tell her story. It is located here.
     I can see an educator using this story in a variety of ways. One of which is to teach about World History from a different point of view. A teacher could use this book to teach about the Islamic Revolution and Iran- Iraq War detailing what life was like during those periods. Promoting tolerance of other cultures and coming of age in a different culture are other themes that can be used with this book. One could also use this book to teach literary elements such as visual imaginary and story telling. I would use this book to teach grades 8-10.