The Wall:  Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain

by Peter Sis

Sis’s book is a powerful combination of graphic novel and picture book.  It is an account of his growing up in Czechoslovakia under Soviet rule, showing his life behind the Iron Curtain from 1954 to 1977.  Crowded black-and-white drawings of parades and red-flagged houses bear blunt captions: "Public displays of loyalty---compulsory. Children are encouraged to report on their families and fellow students. Parents learn to keep their opinions to themselves." Text along the bottom margin reveals young Sis’s own experience: "He didn't question what he was being told.  Then he found out there were things he wasn't told."  The secret police intrude into every drawing, watching and listening.  As Sís grows to manhood, Eastern Europe discovers the Beatles, and the "Prague Spring of 1968" promises liberation and freedom.  Instead, Soviet tanks roll in, returning the city to its previous restrictive climate.  Sís rebels when possible, and in the book's final drawings, shows himself on a bicycle, born aloft by wings made from his artwork, flying toward America and freedom, as the Berlin Wall crumbles below.

Return to Reading Unites Page