Read Harder Recommendations: A Culture Other Than Your Own
The Panels 2015 Read Harder Challenge consists of 26 challenge categories spanning the breadth and depth of all things that may be considered comics. Every week we’ll give you reading recommendations from one of the categories.
I love traveling to cultures other than my own through any reading, but it can be especially memorable in comics given the sensory experience that comes from reading images. Some of the most vivid world travel I’ve done has been through comics about cultures other than my own, and I think many of our Panelteers would agree.
Wayward by Jim Zub and and Steve Cummings: An awesome look at Japanese culture and mythology, plus magic and a kick-ass heroine. – Jenn Northington
How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, Sarah Glidden: Glidden’s graphic diary of a birthright trip looks at both the history and present of Israel. – Jenn Northington
A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached: Abirached relates her own memories of Beruit into a lovely and accessible slice-of-life story about an evening in an apartment building during the civil war in Lebanon. – Amy Diegelman
Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang: This two-volume box set examines The Boxer Rebellion through the eyes of two young people on opposite sides of the conflict. One is a young man, Little Bao, whose villages is overturned by Westerners. The other is Vibiana, a girl who is rejected by her family and village and taken in by Christian missionaries. By examining both sides of the rebellion, Yang masterfully touches on radicalism, the gray area inherent in picking sides, and one of the most important moments in Chinese culture. – Andi Miller
Aya: Life in Yop City by Marguerite Abouet, Clément Oubrerie, and Helge Dascher – Jess Pryde
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi – Jess Pryde
More Resources and Recommendations:
An International Catalogue of Superheroes
The International Comic Arts Forum
____________________________
Join us for Book Riot Live this November—hang out with people who love books, comics, and geeking out!
