Book Lists - Graphic Novel Memoirs
Try one of these memoirs written in the form of a graphic novel - pictures and text combine to produce incredible stories.
Blankets (2003)
by Craig Thompson
A touching memoir chronicles the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers, and the emotional conflict engendered by the author's fundamentalist upbringing.
Epileptic (2005)
by David B.
A personal memoir told in the form of a graphic novel chronicles the author's experiences growing up with an older brother suddenly afflicted with epilepsy and the effects of the disease on the family, and the roots of his career as a cartoonist.
Fax from Sarajevo (1996)
by Joe Kubert
Uniquely told with the inclusion of faxes sent to Kubert by Ervin Rustemagic, a friend who was in Sarajavo in 1992, during the siege of Sarajevo, this engrossing graphic novel is moving and tragic. Readers will be captivated by Rustemagic’s accounts of the war torn city and his family’s struggle to survive. The artwork is dark and violent to communicate the tone of the work.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2006)
by Alison Bechdel
An unusual memoir done in the form of a graphic novel by a cult favorite comic artist offers a darkly funny family portrait that details her relationship with her father, a historic preservation expert dedicated to restoring the family's Victorian home, funeral home director, high-school English teacher, and closeted homosexual.
Mom’s Cancer (2006)
by Brian Fies
A deeply touching account of one woman's struggle with cancer; a story of heartbreak and hope told with sophisticated visual invention by her adult son. Originally serialized on the Internet during the ordeal, this won the 2005 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic.
Nylon Road (2009)
by Parsua Bashi
The story of a young Iranian woman’s struggles with growing up under Shiite Law, her journey into adulthood, and the daughter whom she had to leave behind when she left Iran.
Persepolis (2003) and Persepolis 2 (2004)
by Marjane Satrapi
The great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor and the daughter of ardent Marxists describes growing up in Tehran in a country plagued by political upheaval and vast contradictions between public and private life.
The Quitter (2006)
by Harvey Pekar
This autobiographical work shows Pekar as a young man struggling with deciding what to do with his life. Readers may enjoy the coming-of-age nature of the story, Pekar's honesty and willingness to judge himself, and the way that Dean Haspiel's bold drawings complement the harshness of urban life in Cleveland which Pekar describes.
Stitches: A Memoir (2009)
by David Small
The author recounts in graphic novel format his troubled childhood with a radiologist father who subjected him to repeated x-rays and a withholding and tormented mother, an environment he fled at the age of sixteen in the hopes of becoming an artist.
We Are On Our Own: A Memoir (2007)
by Marian Katin
A full-length illustrated graphic memoir about the author and her mother's escape on foot from the Nazi invasion of Budapest recounts how they faked their deaths, abandoned their belongings and loved ones, and fled in disguise with German troops close behind.