My librarian daughter said that the CPS Persepolis situation was used as a basis for discussion in one of her grad school classes. Although librarians have a say in what goes on the shelves and what is displayed, when a library serves a range of ages, there can be crossover in book selection. However, a librarian cannot refuse a book to a patron under any circumstances, not even age. Here’s the relevant link she passed along with the ALA’s official stance: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/access-library-resources-for-minors
She also said sometimes a little gentle guidance is enough to direct the child with the “wrong” book in hand to something more age-appropriate (and thus more enjoyable) in the same genre as the initial selection. And–no surprise–keeping an open line of communication with parents is essential. Librarians may not be able to refuse to check out a book, but they also recognize that parents of minors have the right to control what their child reads. Parents are encouraged to check their child’s backpack or bedroom, to discuss what’s being read, and to remove said books if they deem it necessary.
^ That was a bit of a digression, but also a segue into discussing Persepolis:
The “normal kid” aspect of Marji was something I really enjoyed about the book – her Iron Maiden poster, denim jacket, Michael Jackson button, etc. I found her childlike faults (embellishing the truth, rebelling against her teacher) to be reassuring in a way–that even amid such strife, she was capable of going through the normal stages of growing up. Of course, I attribute a big part of that to her parents, who gave her enough freedom to enable this type of self-discovery/expression. That must have been very difficult for them, given the very real danger lurking around every corner.
I understand this. However, school libraries serve a limited range of ages, i.e. elementary, middle grades, high school. While there is a crossover in book selection, it generally doesn’t range from K - 12. School librarians tend to stick with age-appropriate material. Example: Mo Willems’ books shouldn’t be missed. Yet I doubt any high school library has a shelf full of them. You’ll find the opposite scenario in an elementary library - though Willems’ books don’t stay on the shelf long enough to count. The same holds true for Persepolis: I can understand the elementary librarians deciding it best serves older grade levels. Right or wrong - the school libraries I volunteered in would have just pulled it from the shelf - set it aside - without a fuss. The fuss stirred up a bigger fuss.
On the other hand, I agree public libraries or K-12 schools need that range of material and that a librarian should not refuse to check out a book.
^ True, I imagine it’s less of an issue in schools divided fairly narrowly by age group. My kids all went to PK-8th schools with one shared library. I remember being concerned about my sweet little darling devouring the “big kids’” Sweet Valley High books. Ah, those were the days!
I had serious doubts about Marji’s parents, but I like the fact that they tried to be honest with her. I loved the chapter were she tells her parents that “God chose the king because it says so in her school textbook,” and they have to explain that not everything is true just because it’s in a book. I loved that her grandfather was a prince who became prime minister to the Shah but was also a Communist at heart. Woah!
Did you have doubts because they gave her too much freedom? The scene where Marji goes out to buy tapes, with her mother’s permission, was anxiety producing. It was drawn like a drug deal going down, and the consequences (after she is caught by the Guardians of the Revolution) could have been terrible. It seems like Marji’s mother would have fully understood those risks…so it does make me question her judgment (although I liked her).
That’s a lot of questions, but mostly I’m interested in the ones about Maus and other graphic novels. Since Persepolis was my first, I have nothing to compare it to. For those of you who have read several, how does Persepolis compare?
Yes, letting her push the boundaries in clothing and buying tapes definitely was an issue with me. And I really don’t think they did their homework about the arrangements in Austria. But I admit I dropped my kid off at the entrance to the local woods where kids went and hung out after dark and drank. (My kid won’t drink alcohol, but I knew he could get in trouble for being with kids who were and the park closed at dusk. OTOH I could also have dropped him off at a friends house and they would have headed off for the park without me knowing where he was.)
I have not yet read Maus - it’s been on my list forever and I do have a copy, so maybe I’ll start it now. I’ve also been meaning to read Fun Home. I’ve read three other full sized serious graphic novels, none of which are memoirs though. The first one I ever read was* Ranma 1/2* a Japanese manga about a young man who is cursed to turn into a woman when splashed by water. It’s really weird and I am not crazy about the Manga style. The second one was Watchmen which plays a lot with comic book tropes and has some interesting stuff with a story within a story. I found some of the things he did with the artwork really interesting. The most recent one was The Sculptor a retelling of the Faust story. I didn’t care for it that much. I’m not crazy about the form, but as someone who studied art in college and still has a very visual occupation (architect), I am really interested in how adding art and how you lay things out physically on the page can add to the story or tell the story in different ways. For me by drawing the story you take it out of the “I” voice and make the memoir seem less like navel gazing - even if there is a first person frame. They feel more honest to me - even though I am sure they don’t have to be.
I tried reading Palestine but it seemed too dense and “busy” to me (look at the Google images from the book, you’ll see what I mean), and I’m afraid I abandoned it. Satrapi’s graphic novels are so clean and spare. If I’m going to need to concentrate on a book, I’d rather concentrate on dense writing than dense pictures.
In my library, Persepolis is with other graphic novels. Personally, I think it should be in the biography section.
@ignatius, I grew up on Tintin - though it was really my younger brother who was the fan. (He’s got the collection.) I never think of them as novels, but I guess they count!
@katliamom well that’s the problem, isn’t it? When is one ever really going to be in the right frame of mind?
:-<
Here, Persepolis was in the YA section with other graphic novels. Since I haven’t really read these before, I wasn’t aware that books in this form were so popular or had their own space. I’m learning here A friend gave my husband Maus I and Maus II years ago with highest recommendations. Somehow neither one of us ever got around to reading them.
From what little I know after reading our selection, I agree with @mathmom’s assessment that the drawings provide of this form provide a raw honesty that enhances the sparser wording. I, as the reader, like to “see”, literally, what the author has in mind or saw in her experience.
I’ve been listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, a series of podcasts mostly about women in the food world. The episode I listened to today featured an interview with Marisa Acocella Marchetta, a graphic novelist, author of Cancer Vixen: A True Story. It’s been very positively reviewed and described on Amazon as "The groundbreaking graphic memoir that inspires breast cancer patients to fight back—and do so with style. " The interview was interesting because she spoke a little about how she got started in this art/writing form and how she was better able to express her difficult experiences with the disease using drawings and a bit of levity. Most of the reader reviews expressed appreciation for the graphic novel style, although a few were offended that the author in attempting to incorporate drawings had diminished or trivialized other cancer patients’’ battles.
Oh, I know @mathmom – but there are better times than others. When you can give yourself time to commit fully - fully process – and fully recover. For me, for example, demanding reading can’t take place in bed, when I want to wind down. Maus is the opposite: it will wind you up.
mathmom: I consider the Tintin books graphic novels because that’s where you find them in our local Barnes and Noble. I had to keep an eye out for the ones my son didn’t yet own.
When I was a kid in the 1950s, my sister and I loved the “innocent” comic books that we were allowed to read. (Superman and the like were prohibited.)
As I recall, our favorites were Donald Duck and Little Lulu. We didn’t think they were at all babyish. We thought they were cool. (I was in about fourth grade at the height of this.)
I’ve always remembered the Little Lulu story in which she and her friend started saying “foot foot foot foot” and “feet feet feet feet” over and over again until they turned into nonsense words. Lucy and Alvin were rendered helpless with laughter, and the adults were confused.
The only problem with those is that they were spoilers–later in life when I read the real classics, I already knew how they ended!
I agree. Words alone can be interpreted with different tones, but the accompanying drawings in Persepolis make it pretty clear how each character is feeling.
I will be gone for the next two days, road tripping to what I expect will be the last Accepted Student Days of my parental career. I’m not sure of my schedule (or my internet access), but I’ll check in if I can. Carry on!
I’m curious. Which book did you prefer? I prefer Persepolis. I find Reading Lolita in Tehran didactic. It kept me at arm’s length, never quite picturing Nafisi’s “girls” or her “magician.” Satrapi takes care of that problem by providing pictures.
I’m pleased we read the books as a duet though. I think each complemented the other. Still, I’d recommend Persepolis to my reader friends but not Nafisi’s book - not that I dislike it. I just have that “meh” feeling about it.
the whole “foot, foot” Little Lulu story is here (scroll down):