An intense, brilliantly conceived graphic memoir announcing the arrival of a new talent to watch.
A cartoonist and writer reflects on intergenerational trauma and its relationship to modern colonial violence.
Family stories about heroic escapes during the Holocaust mesmerized Brager almost as much as those about their great-grandfather Erich, mythologized as the man who beat Joseph Goebbels in a boxing match. However, as Brager shows, those stories—along with the unarticulated events that led to the formation of their transgender identity—also haunted the author. Unable to speak directly about the trauma surrounding their transition, Brager wrote about family Holocaust stories instead, which graduate school history professors rejected as too personal. In this debut, the author uses their formidable skills as an artist to transform that research journey into a unique comic book–style narrative that interweaves tales of their inherited past with their own imperfect recollections. Grounding the narrative in work by psychiatrists, historians, and Holocaust survivors like Primo Levi, Brager achieves not only critical distance from their own work, but also the ability to see how other legacies of oppression subtly intersected both the Holocaust and their own life. In considering a gold bracelet inherited from their mother, for example, Brager was able to visualize their connections to the original owner, their great-grandmother, Ilse, and the bracelet’s giver, Erich, and link a historical artifact to a real event—in this case, Ilse’s escape from Germany. Brager shows readers how the bracelet, made in French colonial Morocco, functions as evidence of the subtle, unquestioned ways that colonial violence could embed itself in the histories of other oppressed people. As the author probes the many ways in which cultures intersect, they challenge readers to make deeper, more complex connections among self, family, and the many histories in which the self necessarily—but sometimes unknowingly—participates.
An intense, brilliantly conceived graphic memoir announcing the arrival of a new talent to watch.Pub Date: June 25, 2024
ISBN: 9780063205956
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
A heartwarming journey that, yes, goes boldly where few men have gone before.
The role of a lifetime: an actor as activist.
Takei famously came out of the closet at age 68, in 2005. Ever since, the actor has been working passionately as an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and social justice. In this sprightly and affecting graphic memoir, Takei guides readers on the winding path that led to his activism—and tells how he became an actor, known the world over for his portrayal of Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek franchise. Takei recounts his Japanese American family’s post–Pearl Harbor imprisonment in internment camps in Arkansas and California. “We were punished for looking different,” he says. “Then came this growing realization that I had another difference”—he was attracted to other boys. “I felt so alone,” he says in text accompanying a poignant illustration of him with his hands in his pockets, a despairing look on his face. Thankfully, Buddhism helped the youth; his temple taught him about acceptance—“maybe my feelings were a natural part of me.” His desire to fight injustice began early, when, as a teenager, he picked strawberries and challenged fellow Japanese Americans not to exploit Mexican workers. Takei studied architecture at UC Berkeley, but his “secret aspiration” to be an actor soon became a reality: He landed a voice-over gig that paved the way for a bright future. For decades, he lived a double life, afraid of others’ finding out that he was gay (which could have ended his career). His fear, though, didn’t stop him from championing causes—in addition to serving on the board of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, he volunteered for politicians, including Tom Bradley, who, as mayor of Los Angeles, named Takei to a public transportation board. The helmsman of the USS Enterprise, it turns out, helped the City of Angels get a subway system.
A heartwarming journey that, yes, goes boldly where few men have gone before.Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781603095747
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
An impassioned message of rage and hope.
The author of Persepolis returns with a collection about burgeoning activism in Iran.
In September 2022, the beating and death of Mahsa Jina Amini, an Iranian student arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly, incited a solidarity movement among women and men that spread around the world. To publicize and bear witness to this major uprising, Satrapi has gathered stories, cartoons, and essays from more than 20 artists, activists, journalists, and academics. The author has two aims: “to explain what’s going on in Iran, to decipher events in all their complexity and nuance for a non-Iranian readership, and to help you understand them as fully as possible”; and “to remind Iranians that they are not alone.” Setting the movement in context, Iranian American historian Abbas Milani offers an overview of the political upheavals and revolutions that have led to the current misogynist, repressive regime and the “resolute defiance” that has emerged in protest. As each contributor attests, life under a wrathful dictatorship is consistently frightening and dangerous: “The Islamic Republic ensures its own survival by murdering people. During the successive demonstrations” over Amini’s murder, “several hundred people were killed in an attempt to strike fear into the hearts of protesters. Young people were forced to confess under torture.” Women are especially vulnerable. Since November 2022, young students in schools across Iran have been poisoned by toxic gas as part of an attempt to force girls’ schools to close. Protecting the regime falls to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization that answers directly to Khomeini, the Supreme Leader, and for the past four decades has carried out a reign of terror. This collection pays homage to victims and celebrates the dreams of Iran’s determined activists. Other contributors include Joanne Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Paco Roca, and Mana Neyestani.
An impassioned message of rage and hope.Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781644214053
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Seven Stories
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
