A moving and heartfelt graphic memoir.
A Canadian cartoonist and writer pieces together the unspoken lives of her Chinese-born parents.
When Wong, author of a previous graphic memoir, Dear Scarlet, visited her mother, Sandy, in the hospital in 2014, she became aware of how poorly she spoke Cantonese and how disconnected she felt from her now deeply depressed mother. Determined to understand the reasons behind the distant relationships she had with both Sandy and with her emotionally absent father, Frank, the author began revisiting her past. Language was only one part of a problem: Her immigrant parents were also blue-collar working people who “weren’t around much” during her childhood. Probing further, Wong realized that the distance also had to do with the personal stories her parents had avoided telling her—e.g., about the dangerous escapes they made to Hong Kong during the Communist Revolution. Through spare, pen-and-ink images and simple language, Wong imagines Sandy and Frank's respective histories, skillfully interweaving them with strands of the life the family shared in Canada. Plunging deeper into the past, the author also imagines the lives of her mysterious paternal great-grandfather, who came to Canada early in the 20th century to “lift his family out of extreme poverty.” Despite “overwhelming racism,” exemplified by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923 and in forced separation from loved ones in China, her great-grandfather persisted, doing everything he could to “give his family a good life from afar.” What emerges from the fractured segments of Wong’s story is not just a poignant tale of intergenerational trauma, but also an inspiring portrait of familial dedication that embraces wisdom, grace, and love. “I am the descendant of people who stepped out into the unknown and found a way to live,” she writes. “A child of survivors, many generations back.”
A moving and heartfelt graphic memoir.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9781551529493
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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
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