Persepolis

Published in 2006, 'Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic' is a graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel that recounts her upbringing in a funeral home in rural Pennsylvania. The book focuses on Bechdel's fraught relationship with her father, Bruce, a closeted gay man and high school English teacher who also worked as a part-time mortician. The narrative is non-linear, using literary and mythological allusions to explore themes of sexual orientation, gender roles, family dysfunction, and the impact of secrets on family life. Bechdel's meticulous artwork and essayistic writing style combine to create a powerful and intimate portrayal of her childhood and her attempts to understand her father and herself.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is Marjane Satrapi's acclaimed graphic memoir that tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen. The book chronicles her experiences growing up during the Islamic Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, and the subsequent changes in Iranian society. It depicts her childhood, her family's Westernized lifestyle, and her struggles with the new fundamentalist regime. The narrative is presented through powerful black-and-white comic strip images, blending the format of a graphic novel with a prose-only memoir. The book provides a child's-eye view of the historical events, highlighting the contradictions between home life and public life in Iran during that period.