Nominated for YALSA's 2018 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list!
Nominated for the Kirkus Prize!
"Poignant and powerful... a meditation on the ache and longing for a place you can no longer return."—Boston Globe
"Small in size but large in impact, this intimate memoir is a highly relevant and compassionate story of family, community, prejudice, and the struggle to love when the forces of the world push groups apart."—Kirkus, Best Teen Non-fiction of 2017
"[Poppies of Iraq's] power lies in the contrast between the matter-of-fact nature of the text and visuals, and the dread and horror of the backdrop... there is also hope to be found here — the hope that, no matter what befalls a nation, there will always be individuals who can craft something beautiful by virtue of their survival."—Vulture, Best Comics of 2017
"The rich effect of Poppies of Iraq... comes from the manner in which the sweet and domestic rests alongside horror."—Los Angeles Review of Books
"A plainly stated, emotionally devastating memoir... Throughout this bittersweet book, Findakly and Trondheim interweave the political and personal in a way that mirrors and heightens real life. Poppies of Iraq is about big events as seen through small eyes: there’s a universalness underneath the specificity. Anyone, even with a boring childhood, should find something to relate to here... an unforgettable, devastating, sweet book."—Salon
"Wise, touching and wonderfully vivid... Findakly’s memoir covers an extended period in Iraq’s recent history... yet the half century ticks by with amazing ease, its author managing to tell both the story of a (complicated, fearful) nation, and that of one family of exiles coping with a new life in Paris."—Guardian, Graphic Novel of the Month
"An Iraqi childhood is cherished, examined, and let go in this tender look at youth amid upheaval... an ode to a lost era, to be sure, but one with its feet planted securely in the present."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"[Poppies of Iraq describes] a childhood caught between cultures [and] vividly capture[s] an oppressive regime as seen from a kid's guileless point of view."—Reader's Digest
"The personal and political interweave in this sad yet charming memoir... Like snapshots, Findakly’s story toggles back and forth in time, depicting memories mixed with historical background and “In Iraq” vignettes about customs in that country."—Library Journal
"This absorbing graphic memoir offers an insider’s view of the rapid cultural changes that beset Iraq in the latter half of the 20th century... Short vignettes about her family, school, and local customs are alternately bittersweet, funny, and affecting as a series of military and political coups impact her family’s life in Iraq... A moving, thought-provoking title for all collections."—School Library Journal, Starred Review
"Poppies of Iraq is a beautiful portrait of a life lived in cultural translation, its pages filled with humor and a nostalgia made complicated with age."—Bomb Magazine
"What is it like to grow up in Iraq? That’s the question at the heart of Poppies of Iraq... a beautifully drawn graphic novel that shows how growing up in Iraq is more complicated than it seems."—Bitch Magazine
12/01/2017
The personal and political interweave in this sad yet charming memoir. Having grown up in Mosul, Iraq, 14-year-old Findakly (colorist, The Rabbi's Cat and other French comics) immigrated in 1973 to Pairs, where her mother was born. Like snapshots, Findakly's story toggles back and forth in time, depicting memories mixed with historical background and "In Iraq" vignettes about customs in that country. With the father an army dentist, the author's Christian family survives multiple regime coups and escalating civil unrest while submitting to shortages, government censorship, and increased repression. Later, life in Paris comes as a shock to the teen since incomprehensible bureaucracies exist there as well. Trondheim's (Dungeon) simple, childlike drawings evoke the unquestioning acceptance shown by citizens forbidden from protesting anything and who avoid political discussions. Indeed, Findakly's cheerful coloring exudes paradoxical normality. VERDICT Like Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, but for Iraq, this work demonstrates how the unthinkable and unexpected for some can be normal to those who live under such circumstances on a daily basis. For all readers interested in Middle Eastern issues.—MC
★ 11/01/2017
Gr 8 Up—This absorbing graphic memoir offers an insider's view of the rapid cultural changes that beset Iraq in the latter half of the 20th century. As in Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and Raina Telgemeier's Smile, the author of this work is both cocreator and protagonist. Brigitte is an energetic guide through a series of childhood experiences, at once universal and distinctly her own. Short vignettes about her family, school, and local customs are alternately bittersweet, funny, and affecting as a series of military and political coups impact her family's life in Iraq. Vivid illustrations contrast with black-and-white family photos, bringing to life actual individuals. An opening scene finds young Brigitte playing amid ancient ruins at an archaeological site, and the work ends with a time line tracing the history of the region, from ancient Mesopotamia to present day. This bookending underscores the variety of power structures that have come and gone, demonstrating how Findakly's family's experiences are part of an ongoing historical narrative. VERDICT A moving, thought-provoking title for all collections.—Ann Foster, Saskatoon Public Library
★ 2017-08-02
From the daughter of a French mother and Iraqi father comes a touching memoir of childhood in Iraq. Writing with her husband, Findakly strings together memories and facts from her family's past and present as well as from Iraqi culture, as if she is sharing herself with readers over tea. She begins with happy childhood moments in Iraq and her school days, her parents' backgrounds and how they met, and introductions to other family members and neighbors. Especially poignant are the portrayals of her French mother's successful adjustment to Iraqi society over 23 years and Findakly's own process of growing apart from Iraqi society after her father decides they should move to France when she is a teenager. Trondheim's charming cartoon drawings, colored by Findakly, help readers envision the worlds the family straddles, while occasional pages of family photographs remind readers of the author's historical reality. Readers feel they are getting an inside look into an impenetrable world with cultural and historical notes on pages titled "In Iraq" interspersed throughout the book. This personal portrayal of the impact of war and societal upheaval on one family will help many Western readers to see how the past half-century of conflict has devastated a region rich in ancient culture. Small in size but large in impact, this intimate memoir is a highly relevant and compassionate story of family, community, prejudice, and the struggle to love when the forces of the world push groups apart. (timeline) (Graphic memoir. 10-adult)