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7 books match the query 'Biography & Memoir'

cover of Back to Al Bak: A Graphic Novel

Back to Al Bak

A Graphic Novel

Dwa (Andriantsialonina Eric); Translated from the French by Allison M. Charette

Vanderbilt University Press, 2027

When Dwa left his birthplace at the age of eight, the village of Alatsinainy Bakaro (Al Bak) had no electricity or running water. Now, he is about to return to the tiny highlands village after twenty-seven years of living in the capital city of Antananarivo. With no family left in the village, he resorts to posting a message on Facebook. A local family responds and invites him to stay with them, without knowing that—by sheer chance—they hold the same positions at the regional junior high school that Dwa’s parents had. Returning to his origins, in the home of a family that could easily have been his own, Dwa falls deep into nostalgia for his childhood. But understanding is hard to come by, and it is a tremendous challenge to reconcile his two worlds, so very different from each other. In the rural highlands of Madagascar, being an artist isn’t a job, and creating graphic novels as a career is an entirely foreign concept. But this journey that Dwa takes—and takes the reader on with him—is made all the richer for its reflections, quandaries, and considerations. In Back to Al Bak, full-page watercolors alternate with comic-strip exchanges to craft a rich and sensitive portrait of Dwa’s journey back through time and memory.

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cover of Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White

Darkroom

A Memoir in Black and White

Lila Quintero Weaver

University of Alabama Press, 2012

A Latina girl’s journey through the shadows of the civil rights era.

Darkroom is a deeply moving graphic memoir that chronicles Lila Quintero Weaver’s experience growing up as an Argentine immigrant in 1960s Alabama during the height of the civil rights movement. Through striking black-and-white illustrations and heartfelt narrative, Weaver explores the complexities of race, identity, and belonging in a society divided by segregation. Neither Black nor White, her family occupies a unique position that offers a powerful lens on the struggles for justice and equality. This coming-of-age story blends personal history with pivotal social change, inviting readers to reflect on themes of immigration, cultural assimilation, and moral courage. Darkroom is both an intimate portrait and a universal tale of resilience, making it an essential read for those interested in civil rights, memoirs, and graphic storytelling.

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cover of Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun

Liberated

The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun

Kaz Rowe

J. Paul Getty Trust, The, 2023

Courageous Surrealist artist Claude Cahun championed freedom at every turn, from rejecting gender norms and finding queer love to risking death to sabotage the Nazis.

At the turn of the twentieth century in Nantes, France, Lucy Schwob met Suzanne Malherbe, and lightning struck. The two became partners both artistically and romantically and transformed themselves into the creative personas Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Together, the couple embarked on a radical journey of Surrealist collaboration that would take them from conservative provincial France to the vibrancy of 1920s Paris to the oppression of Nazi-occupied Jersey during World War II, where they used art to undermine the Nazi regime.

Cahun and Moore challenged gender roles and championed freedom at a time when strict societal norms meant that the truth of their relationship had to remain secret. Featuring ten photographs by Cahun and Moore, this graphic biography by cartoonist Kaz Rowe brings Cahun’s inspiring story to life.

Ages thirteen to eighteen
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cover of Man on a Mission: James Meredith and the Battle of Ole Miss

Man on a Mission

James Meredith and the Battle of Ole Miss

Aram Goudsouzian

University of Arkansas Press, 2022

In 1962, James Meredith famously desegregated the University of Mississippi (a.k.a. Ole Miss). As the first Black American admitted to the school, he demonstrated great courage amidst the subsequent political clashes and tragic violence. After President Kennedy summoned federal troops to help maintain order, the South—and America at large—would never be the same.

Man on a Mission depicts Meredith’s relentless pursuit of justice, beginning with his childhood in rural Mississippi and culminating with the confrontation at Ole Miss. A blend of historical research and creative inspiration, this graphic history tells Meredith’s dramatic story in his own singular voice.

From the dawn of the modern civil rights movement, Meredith has offered a unique perspective on democracy, racial equality, and the meaning of America. Man on a Mission presents his captivating saga for a new generation in the era of Black Lives Matter.

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cover of Me llamo Marcela: My Story as a Heritage Speaker

Me llamo Marcela

My Story as a Heritage Speaker

Written by Marcela T. Garcés and illustrated by Andrés E. Garcés

The Ohio State University Press, 2024

On her first day of middle school Spanish class, Marcela thought she’d excel—after all, she’d grown up speaking Spanish at home and on visits to family in Colombia. Instead, she quickly felt like a confused imposter, unsure how a language that was part of her heritage and identity could so elude her. And so, at age thirteen, with the help of her Spanish teacher Doña Maribel, Marcela began her formal journey studying Spanish. She never anticipated how much she’d discover about learning a language and what it means to be a heritage speaker—someone who grows up using a language at home but often lacks more formal knowledge of it. In this charming graphic memoir that captures a little-discussed aspect of growing up multicultural, Marcela recounts her earliest Spanish teachers: Colombian street vendors, family members who shouted or whispered words, and her beloved Doña Maribel, who helped her connect the Spanish of her youth with what she was learning in the classroom. Childhood memories from trips to Colombia intertwine with her adolescence, when Marcela resolves to study the language for herself, not because people correct her or expect her to speak it well but because she wants to learn. This comic, drawn by Marcela’s brother Andrés, shows the complicated path of language and identity that Marcela travels as a heritage speaker.
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cover of Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide

Photographic

The Life of Graciela Iturbide

Isabel Quintero

J. Paul Getty Trust, The, 2021

This young adult graphic biography follows the life of one of Mexico’s greatest living photographers, Graciela Iturbide, as she makes her way from Mexico City to the Sonoran Desert, Los Angeles, India, and beyond. The kaleidoscopic narrative offers deep insight into the path of a young photographer from an early tragedy to great fame.

Renowned Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide was born in Mexico City in 1942, the oldest of thirteen children. When tragedy strikes Graciela as a young mother, she turns to photography for solace and understanding.

From then on Graciela embarks on a photographic journey that takes her throughout her native Mexico, from the Sonora Desert to Juchitán to Frida Kahlo’s bathroom, and then to the United States, India, and beyond.

Photographic is a symbolic, poetic, and deeply personal graphic biography of this iconic photographer. Graciela’s journey will excite young adults and budding photographers, who will be inspired by her resolve, talent, and curiosity.

Ages twelve and up
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cover of Ruth Asawa: An Artist Takes Shape

Ruth Asawa

An Artist Takes Shape

Sam Nakahira

J. Paul Getty Trust, The, 2024

Brave, unconventional, and determined, Ruth Asawa let nothing stop her from living a life intertwined with art.

Renowned for her innovative wire sculptures, Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa (1926–2013) was a teenager in Southern California when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forcibly removed from their homes. Asawa’s family had to abandon their farm, her father was incarcerated, and she and the rest of her family were sent to a concentration camp. Asawa nurtured her dreams of becoming an artist while imprisoned and eventually made her way to the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina.

This graphic biography by Sam Nakahira, developed in consultation with Asawa’s youngest daughter, Addie Lanier, chronicles the genesis of Asawa as an artist—from the horror of Pearl Harbor to her transformative education at Black Mountain College to building a life in San Francisco, where she would further develop and refine her groundbreaking wire sculpture.

Asawa never sought fame, preferring to work on her own terms: for her, art and life were one. Featuring lively illustrations and photographs of Asawa’s work, this retelling of her young adult years demonstrates the power of making art.

Ages thirteen and up
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