I Remember Beirut

Zeina Abirached, author of the award-winning graphic novel A Game for Swallows, returns with a powerful collection of wartime memories.

Abirached was born in Lebanon in 1981. She grew up in Beirut as fighting between Christians and Muslims divided the city streets. Follow her past cars riddled with bullet holes, into taxi cabs that travel where buses refuse to go, and on outings to collect shrapnel from the sidewalk.

With striking black-and-white artwork, Abirached recalls the details of ordinary life inside a war zone.

“"In her previous graphic-novel memoir A Game for Swallows (rev. 9/12), Abirached viewed the Lebanese civil war through the lens of a single excruciating evening, as young Zeina awaited her parents' return home amidst heavy bombing. Here the author revisits that era in a loosely connected series of sobering vignettes and impressions, each beginning with the phrase 'I remember': her family's bullet holeriddled car, her brother's shrapnel collection, schools used as bomb shelters. Black-and-white geometric illustrations capture both the enormous scale of the war (with motifs of falling bombs, helicopters, and stranded cars) and its personal repercussions (as facial expressions and body language change subtly over a series of panels). In one particularly striking spread, Abirached envisions the family's many relocations as the squares of a board game. Just as in the previous book, lighter memoriessuch as dancing to pop songs, watching cartoons, and receiving disastrous haircutsmodulate the somber tone and emphasize that we are seeing things from a child's perspective. Though the 'I remember' refrain becomes a bit repetitive, Abirached smartly subverts it near book's end, admitting what she doesn't remember (e.g., the last day of the war) and adding a framing device (her adult conversation with a friend). Knowledge of Swallows isn't necessary to follow this companion book but would enhance understanding and enjoymentfor instance, observant readers may recognize Zeina's eccentric acquaintances." The Horn Book Magazine”

"This spare memoir humanizes families trapped in war zones, and their experiences should resonate with young adult audiences. Highly Recommended."―starred, Library Media Connection

Zeina Abirached was born in Beirut in the middle of the civil war. She studied graphic arts in Lebanon but moved to Paris in 2004, where she attended the National School of Decorative Arts. In 2006, she published her first two graphic novels with publisher Cambourakis, Beyrouth-Catharsis and 38, Rue Youssef Semaani. Her short animated film Mouton was nominated during the fifth international film festival in Tehran. A Game For Swallows (Graphic Universe, 2012) has won numerous awards, including being named an ALA Notable Children's Book and a YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens. Je Me Souviens Beyrouth (I Remember Beirut), the follow-up to A Game For Swallows, was published in French by Cambourakis in 2008. Zeina Abirached was born in Beirut in the middle of the civil war. She studied graphic arts in Lebanon but moved to Paris in 2004, where she attended the National School of Decorative Arts. In 2006, she published her first two graphic novels with publisher Cambourakis, Beyrouth-Catharsis and 38, Rue Youssef Semaani. Her short animated film Mouton was nominated during the fifth international film festival in Tehran. A Game For Swallows (Graphic Universe, 2012) has won numerous awards, including being named an ALA Notable Children's Book and a YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens. Je Me Souviens Beyrouth (I Remember Beirut), the follow-up to A Game For Swallows, was published in French by Cambourakis in 2008.

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