Poppies of Iraq

A personal account of an Iraqi childhood - appeared on best of the year lists from Kirkus, Guardian, Vulture, Forbes, and more!

Poppies of Iraq is Brigitte Findakly's nuanced tender chronicle of her relationship with her homeland Iraq, co-written and drawn by her husband, the acclaimed cartoonist Lewis Trondheim. In spare and elegant detail, they share memories of her middle class childhood touching on cultural practices, the education system, Saddam Hussein's state control, and her family's history as Orthodox Christians in the arab world. Poppies of Iraq is intimate and wide-ranging; the story of how one can become separated from one's homeland and still feel intimately connected yet ultimately estranged.

Signs of an oppressive regime permeate a seemingly normal life: magazines arrive edited by customs; the color red is banned after the execution of General Kassim; Baathist militiamen are publicly hanged and school kids are bussed past them to bear witness. As conditions in Mosul worsen over her childhood, Brigitte's father is always hopeful that life in Iraq will return to being secular and prosperous. The family eventually feels compelled to move to Paris, however, where Brigitte finds herself not quite belonging to either culture. Trondheim brings to life Findakly's memories to create a poignant family portrait that covers loss, tragedy, love, and the loneliness of exile.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Published: 09/05/2017
ISBN: 9781770462939
Pages: 120
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.50h x 6.50w x 0.60d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 07/17/2017
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2017 pg. 176
Foreword 08/26/2017
Booklist 09/15/2017 pg. 43
School Library Journal 11/01/2017 pg. 108
Library Journal 12/01/2017

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 193709 / Poppies of Iraq
Reading Level: 5.7 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 2