I Remember Beirut

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 8, 2015

Review

Seemingly a follow-up or companion to A Game for Swallows, which was award-winning, this book lacks cohesion. With the same sharp black & white illustrations at AGfS, this book is literally a collection of memories with no narrative arc. It mentions many subjects and people as if the ready already has context. Some of the memories are poignant and Abirached lived in Lebanon during a tense and historic time, but I didn't really get any punch from this book. I wanted to know what led Abirached's mother to clutch her children tightly to her and command that they "always look out for one another," and what happened to her brother's shrapnel collection. The very last page reads "I remember Georges Perec" and upon looking him up, I discovered that he was a French author of a novel that does not use the letter 'e' (translated in 1994 as A Void) - why she remembers him and what he, or her memory of him, has to do with anything is unclear. A strange little graphic novel that I liked, but wanted more of and one I am not sure to what kind of reader I would recommend.

Overall Book Score: fair