Papaya Salad

Papaya Salad

By Elisa Macellari
Dark House Books, 2020. 223 pages. Graphic Novel Biography.

The debut graphic novel from Thai-Italian illustrator Elisa Macellari, Papaya Salad tells the story of her great-uncle Sompong who found himself in Europe on military scholarship on the eve of World War II. A gentle and resolute man in love with books and languages, in search of his place in the world, Sompong chronicles his life during the war and falling for his wife, finding humor and joy even as the world changes irrevocably around him.

Summer Reading just ended but don't worry, the library has more challenges for you. One of them is A Year of Reading, where we challenge you to read 12 books from different categories.  This is a great way to expand your reading horizons, win prizes, and make the librarians proud of you.  This is the book I read to fulfill the Biography category.  I tend to leave my nonfiction books unfinished and biographies are often long and extra daunting.  So I went slightly unconventional and chose a graphic novel (yes, it still counts).  The other trick when reading outside your comfort zone is to make sure that there is something that really interests you about the book. For example, if you usually read fast-paced mysteries, maybe you can try one of our true crime books in the 364s. In this case I really loved the art style, a good color theme will always hook me. So even when I began to think there wasn't enough dragons in this story I was still willing to continue.  If you are also looking for a biography to read this was a great one!  The author takes us through some major world events through the lens of an ordinary man who very quickly found a place in my heart.  World War II buffs especially will enjoy this unique perspective on the time period. 

If you like Papaya Salad, you might also like: 

The Photographer of Mauthausen

By Salva Rubio

Dead Reckoning, 2020. Unpaged. Graphic Novel, Nonfiction.

This is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II. Through an odd turn of events, Boix finds himself the confidant of an SS officer who is documenting prisoner deaths at the camp. Boix realizes that he has a chance to prove Nazi war crimes by stealing the negatives of these perverse photos--but only at the risk of his own life, that of a young Spanish boy he has sworn to protect, and, indeed, that of every prisoner in the camp.

Swansong 1945

By Walter Kempowski

W.W. Norton & Company, 2015. 479 pages. Nonfiction.

Swansong 1945 chronicles the end of Nazi Germany and World War II in Europe through hundreds of letters, diaries, and autobiographical accounts covering four days that fateful spring: Hitler's birthday on April 20, American and Soviet troops meeting at the Elbe on April 25, Hitler's suicide on April 30, and finally the German surrender on May 8. Side by side, we encounter vivid, first-person accounts of civilians fleeing Berlin, ordinary German soldiers determined to fight to the bitter end, American POWs dreaming of home, concentration-camp survivors' first descriptions of their horrific experiences, as well as the intimate thoughts of figures such as Eisenhower, Churchill, Stalin, Joseph Goebbels, and Hitler himself. These firsthand accounts, painstakingly collected and organized by renowned German author Walter Kempowski, provide the raw material of history and present a panoramic view of those tumultuous days. The more than 1,000 extracts include a British soldier writing to his parents to tell them there are no baths but plenty of eggs and chocolate, an American soldier describing "the tremendous burst of lilacs" as he approaches the Elbe, Mussolini wishing Hitler a happy birthday, Eva Braun bragging to a girlfriend about what a "crack shot" she's become, and much more. An extraordinary account of suffering and survival, Swansong 1945 brings to life the end of Nazi Germany and the war in Europe.

Audrey Hepburn

By Michelle Botton
NBM Graphic Novels, 2024. 175 pages. Graphic Novel, Biography.

When Audrey Hepburn is mentioned, one thinks of her being beautiful and elegant, of her films, or of how her image is used to recall something immortal and fashionable. But Audrey was also a little girl who saw the Second World War with her own eyes, a woman who was at times fragile at work and in her private life, with a strong desire for motherhood and, above all, a boundless love for children that would lead her to find her true vocation, far from dancing or acting: she will in fact become a UNICEF ambassador to raise awareness in the world and help minors in difficulty.

KJ