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This post is auto-generated from RSS feed BOOK RIOT. Source: Why Graphic Nonfiction Matters

When we talk about graphic novels, most people think of fictional stories like Nimona or One Hundred Nights of Hero. Or maybe they think of the graphic novel adaptations of Kindred or Aru Shah and the End of Time. But graphic novels aren’t only for fictional stories. Graphic novels can tell true stories too.

Over the last couple decades, graphic nonfiction has been growing in popularity. Modern classics like Persepolis and Maus illustrate that the medium possesses an intense amount of range. Stories, like these, about complex moments in history are difficult to capture on the page, and the authors could have chosen to write their stories as prose. Instead, they combined text with a visual medium. The art adds layers of meaning to the text, giving authors more avenues for telling their story. 

Maybe the artist uses a limited color palette to show the ongoing stress of the characters’ emotions, or maybe they create their art in black and white with bold black outlining to make their art more stark and straightforward. The small facial expression of characters, spatial awareness of the art, and how the author handles dialogue are all giving information to the reader. The blend of text and illustration create a unique form of nonfiction that uses two of our senses to help tell the authors’ true stories.

In addition to highlighting major historical moments, graphic nonfiction can also tackle big ideas around environmentalism, disability, immigration, and so much more. If you’re looking for a place to start with graphic nonfiction, here are eight titles that span across a range of topics and art styles.

The Complete Persepolis, written and illustrated by Marjane Satrapi, translated from French by Anjali Singh This graphic memoir follows Marjane Satrapi through the Iranian Revolution and her flight to France. She goes to school in Paris for a few years, but eventually, she returns home to Iran. She finds it completely changed. Satrapi’s bold black and white art style captures your attention from the first page, and her memoir is a testament to her love of Persian culture and the grief she experiences as her homeland is changed forever. While Satrapi’s memoir represents only one perspective on these events in Iran’s history, Persepolis is a modern classic for a reason.

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