Persepolis

Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis. New York, NY: Random House.

Summary

Marjane is growing up in Tehran during the reign of the Shah. Her everyday life is filled with the city streets full of revolts. New laws encompass her daily life affecting her school and how she should dress. Marjane is a rebel. She longs to make a purpose of her life and enjoys hearing how her relatives like her grandfather and uncle fought for justice. The older she gets the more bold she gets in her outrage at the laws of the land and the lies told by the government and officials. Soon she gets so upset she hits her principal and stands up to a religion teacher.  Because of this, her parents fear she will be executed.  Their only  option they feel is to send her to Vienna. 

Commentary 

This biography was a decent explanation of the Iran Revolution.  I didn't understand what went all during that time. I just knew it was a war that had been going on for years.  Marjane uses her experiences to explain to the reader how the revolution affected her land but how citizens still had love for their homeland and fought for it return to what they loved.  Her family is close and supportive of each other which explains how Marjane grew up with such confidence.  The book is a pleasant alternative to reading and expository article on the conflict in Iran.

Connections

Connections to Text

Persepolis is a autobiography written in graphic novel format.  It tells events of the author's life in sequential order. Being a graphic novel it has pictures in every panel on every page. This helped me tremendously in understanding the content. I have no point of reference for the conflict in the middle east and many of the vocabulary was foreign.  I imagine other readers would feel the same and begin to use the pictures to aid in understanding what is happening in the book.

In My Family

Lomas Garza, C. (1996). In My Family. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press.

In My Family is a collection of short snippets of memories the author has of her life as a young girl. These recollections include watching her grandfather clean nopalitos, barbecues to celebrated birthdays, and how her family would prepare for a wedding. Each story is told in Enlish and translated into Spanish. 

This book would be beneficial to have in a bilingual class room. English language learners that speak Spanish can practice their English language reading fluency. In any classroom, this book would be good mentor text to discuss writing down memories, or journaling.  Students can see how  you could just start with a memory and expound upon that to write a memoir. 

I also believe this book is a good example to show another cultural present our country. Students can see how a family different from their's prepare for events like Easter and weddings. They then can compare it to how their family celebrates the same event. An awareness that our country is multicultural but still has common beliefs is important to teach in classrooms today.

The illustrations are all paintings by Carmen Lomas Garza too. There seem to be more details in the paintings than in some of her recollections. In fact some of her writings is just explaining what she put in the picture. They are not all written in narrative form. 

Trombone Shorty

Andrews, T. (2015). Trombone Shorty. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

An autobiography on the life of Troy Andrews. Troy writes how he became known as Trombone Shorty. He was born in New Orleans raised in the Treme neighborhood known for its rich culture. He got his musical talent honestly. Many in his family were musicians.  He found a old trombone and began to use it. He and his friends joined in the parades through out the city. A chance encounter with Bo Diddley at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival set the course for Andrews' stardom. He now has his own band and helps other kids with musical dreams like he once had. 

This book was honored for its illustrations. It is no mistake that Bryan Collier used different mediums to create the illustrations. There are drawings, cut outs, magazine or newsprint clipping all put together to make one picture after next. New Orleans' food and music were created by combining different styles to make something new.  Consequently,  I think the illustrator made a conscious choice to create the pages by combing different elements. Thus making the pictures a tribute to what makes New Orleans great.