Fatherland

Working through the graphic novel sets I have in the library for SS/ELA classes. Unfortunately I'm comparing this to some of the other graphic memoirs of family conflict/identity and it's not as favorable. Her art is technically fantastic and really striking, but that precision gives it a layer of remove and coldness that is also true in the story. This book seemed to want to be three things at once and none of them were fully realized: an exploration of her own relationship to her parents/childhood, an exploration of her father's history and what radicalized and ultimately killed him, AND an explanation of former Yugoslovian (Serbian/Croation specifically) history and conflict through the lens of her family. The sections are disjointed and lose momentum (but gain lots of text) when she takes you outside of her family history to explain the country history. The ending in particular is confusing, it's metaphorical and surreal and I think I understand it but even I'm not entirely sure, so that's going to leave students frustrated. I think there's a place for this in SS classrooms as students are studying world conflicts but be prepared to have some discussion time built in to handle potential student confusion.