Another Choice Review for A Game for Swallows

The Lebanese Civil War graphic novel, A Game for Swallows, by Zeina Abirached adds another standout review to its rapidly growing collection of estimable write-ups (i.e. Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal). This time The A.V. Club has taken notice. The popular newspaper, which has a prominent presence in print and online, features reviews and interviews related to all things entertainment. Although not satirical in nature like its parent company The Onion, it offers a wide range of fun and humorous pop culture content.

In the Swallows review the A.V. Club cuts to the chase by saying, “Abirached captures both the constant fear and the sense of community that defined her youth, emphasizing the latter in her warm recollections of the people who helped raise her, and getting across the latter in unusual page designs that show how the togetherness inside that one safe room was fragmented out in the streets.”

And the review doesn’t accept a knee-jerk opinion by some that A Game for Swallows is Persepolis’ (by Marjane Satrapi) twin sister. It concludes in no uncertain way that “the Persepolis comparison doesn’t work against A Game for Swallows” primarily because Ms. Abirached’s “approach to the story is quite different” than that of Ms. Satrapi’s work.

Ms. Abirached is scheduled to make a visit to New York City for book signings in early-mid November following a conference at the University of Cincinnati.