Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

This is another book I picked because of the summer reading club - I was supposed to pick a graphic novel and this was the only one I could think of.  It's the memoir of an Irani girl during the Islamic Revolution.  It starts when Marjane was 6 and the shah has recently come to power and ends when she is 14.

It was interesting to read about that time through a child's eyes.  Marjane's parents were opposed to the Shah and protested the new regime a few times before it got too dangerous.  Her uncle was imprisoned at one point.  She and her friends went from attending a co-ed French non-religious school to a new school where boys and girls were separated and girls were required to wear veils.  It was scary and sad at times, and other times hopeful and funny. She eventually moved to Vienna and now lives in Paris.  I'm curious to find out what happened to her parents, and plan on reading the second installment at some point to find out.

When I was in middle school the Shah of Iran's daughter, Leila Pahlavi - who is referred to a couple of times in this book - attended my school.  I never knew her - she was in the high school which was a separate building.  She had a bodyguard but otherwise was like any other student.  Still just the fact that she was there piqued my interest in Iran. Similar to my interest with Hilter's rise to power and the way he and the Nazis oppressed many parts of German society in the 30s and 40s.