A review by jwinchell
I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached

4.0

A person could read this without having read A Game for Swallows, but much of both stories would be more comprehensible if you read them as a set and in sequential order. I love her narrative trope here: I remember when... and then diving into each of those memories (writing and drawing), one memory leading into the next, spinning a larger story about her growing up years in war-torn Beirut in the 198os and 90s. But she takes huge leaps to her adult years (1 panel, 2) and then -boom- she is an adult looking back . I guess I could have benefitted from seeing the adult Zeina on the first page (though looking back, she grounds her story firmly in the act of adult reminiscing upon childhood). Love the art, love the courage, love the fact that this graphic memoir is intended for a juvenile audience.