The Wall

Sis, Peter. 2007. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0374347018.

In this provocative biography, Sis details his childhood and young-adulthood in Russian-occupied Prague, Czechoslovakia. Through and introductory history page, photographs, journal entries and pen drawings, Sis captures his own experience as an artist and musician in a state that exerted strict censorship and glorified mandated subordination. The mostly realistic illustrations (the one exception is the depiction of police officers as pigs) add to the oppressive theme through the limited use of color; the only consistently used color is red, symbolizing communist, “red” Russia. When the Prague Spring of 1968 brings the Beatles and art, Sis’ illustrations explode with color. Both informative and deeply personal, this account will resonate with readers interested in history, art and graphic novels.