A story about a very sweet lovable rebellious young girl from Iran..

No, sorry..it's a story of a free family under tyrant rule..
A story of once great country,Kingdom that retreat 1000 years back.

Marjane has dreams..
Dreams of Good life, Good deed, equality, prospect, freedom.
Then came the revolution which call for all that. To down the coup tyrant government.
But alas, the revolution got its own coup, named after a way-better-than-this-religion..even more tyrant..

Why - for me, as Egyptian- all this political events feels so familiar? Like having a Deja Vu?
One thing I learned here..History has its means to keep repeating itself..Anywhere it wish

Yeah, we felt so...25 Jan. 2011, 30 June 2013...and yet it was just for few day, And still it's from worse to worst..
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The Story

In very simple comics, even childish, comes a very excellent heavy family life story, Country history, a very well done melodrama.
About coming of age that really touching.

I loved Marjane so much and her amazing parents.
It take place from 1979 to 1985, where the young girl witnessed all the depressive rules of the new “Islamic Government”

The good thing is the richness of her family both in money and culture...even their ancestors.
That makes a very helpful great insight into the history of Iran, and the major political turns. Most of these things I didn't know - or even if I read it once in text books I may never remember it as I will after reading this novel-

I loved her wanna be a prophet.. it's of course unspeakable in my religion but it comes in a childish nice way...that's okay since she wanted the good deeds as Zarathustra.


This first part is divided into 9,10 pages chapters, each with a title that may makes small appearance or bigger one but it has strong effect in the story. It's brilliant really I loved the naming of the chapters so much.

There was a good diversity of the characters' opinions and how the new government effects them, but I felt that adding a Jewish family into the story was just “inserted” for the purpose of showing diversity and how everyone been effected by the horrors of the war.. it really could have been presented better to not feel that “alien”.

I loved that nostalgic feel that everyone in the middle east must got with the passion about the western music and culture. And was hard to see how much trouble it get those who liked it in that time in Iran.



I really had teary eyes by the last scenes of book one, I really liked the parents so much, how much affection they gave Marjane that I believe what really saved her by the end.

I have to say I may have a minor refuse of some of the very liberal acts of the family, mostly for religious reasons.. yet Part one still very acceptable compared to part two which…

Well let that when it comes to talk about book two.

Mohammed Arabey
20 July 2016