Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood -- Marjane Satrapi, Hardcover

BEST SELLER - A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK - A memoir of growing up as a girl in revolutionary Iran.... That Satrapi chose to tell her remarkable story as a gorgeous comic book makes it totally unique and indispensable. --Time

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's best-selling graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane's child's-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.

Author: Marjane Satrapi
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Published: 04/29/2003
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780375422300
Age Range: 13-17

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.3
Point Value: 2
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 76929 / Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Award: Academy Awards - Nominee
Award: Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers - Nominee
Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended
Award: Alex Awards - Winner
Award: Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award - Nominee
Award: Grand Canyon Reader Award - Nominee
Award: Green Mountain Book Award - Nominee

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 02/15/2003 pg. 118
Vogue 04/01/2003 pg. 259
BookPage 05/01/2003 pg. 15
New York Times 05/11/2003 pg. 8
Library Journal 05/01/2003 pg. 99
Women's Review of Books 06/01/2003 pg. 8
Booklist 05/01/2003 pg. 1564
New York Times 06/01/2003 pg. 23
Publishers Weekly 07/14/2003 pg. 58
School Library Journal 08/01/2003 pg. 190
USA Today 08/06/2003 pg. 1
Voice of Youth Advocates 12/01/2003 pg. 430
SLJ's Best Books 12/01/2003 pg. 51
Booklist Ed Choice Adu Bk YA's 01/01/2004 pg. 778
LJ Best Books of Year 01/01/2004 pg. 50
New York Times 12/07/2003 pg. 80
Booklist 02/01/2004 pg. 962
Booklist 03/01/2004 pg. 1205
ALA Best Books Young Adults 03/15/2004 pg. 1284
Booklist 04/01/2004 pg. 1360
Commonweal 04/23/2004 pg. 22
New York Times 08/22/2004 pg. 7
Library Journal 02/15/2003
New York Review of Books 04/07/2005 pg. 40
People Weekly 12/17/2008 pg. 62
Entertainment Weekly 06/27/2008 pg. 102

About the Author
Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She grew up in Tehran, where she studied at the Lycée Français before leaving for Vienna and then going to Strasbourg to study illustration. She currently lives in Paris, where she is at work on the sequel to Persepolis and where her illustrations appear regularly in newspapers and magazines. She is also the author of several children's books.