Diane McKenzie on Iran And The News

Iran is in the news a lot these days. That reminded me of how important we found it was to listen to the current. We also received Time magazine which both kids used a lot. I might think about a different magazine such as the Economist, but Time does a good job. For older kids, the New Yorker would be my choice. The recent article on health insurance by Atul Gwande (one of my all time favorite authors) has become required reading for members of Congress.

But, back to Iran. You might consider reading the graphic novel Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi. Here is my GoodReads review from a few months ago (I did not enjoy Persepolis 2 nearly as much):

This is a black and white graphic novel sort of in the style of Wanda Gag. It seems to be totally autobiographical and tells the story of living in Iran before and during the revolution and the rise of the religious state. The story is told through the eyes of a child from about age 7 to 13. At times I was confused about what was happening or who was whom - but I realized that this was exactly how a child would see the complexity of the world. Marjane's family were devoted Marxists and liberals and she was raised to be outspoken and was given a good education. Her family's situation grows more and more tenuous as the novel progresses, but it is not clear that Marjane is aware of how bad things are. It ends with her leaving to attend school in Austria and the tension surrounding this move is very high for her, for her family and for the reader. By this point I had totally forgotten that I was reading a graphic novel.

I think the book is for adults and for young adults. It would be an amazing book to read in school and discuss.