Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey

by Ozge Samanci

Overview

Growing up on the Aegean Coast, Ozge loved the sea and imagined a life of adventure while her parents and society demanded predictability. Her dad expected Ozge, like her sister, to become an engineer. She tried to hear her own voice over his and the religious and militaristic tensions of Turkey and the conflicts between secularism and fundamentalism. Could she be a scuba diver like Jacques Cousteau? A stage actress? Would it be possible to please everyone including herself?

In her unpredictable and funny graphic memoir, Ozge recounts her story using inventive collages, weaving together images of the sea, politics, science, and friendship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374316983
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	11/17/2015
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	1,043,000
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	HL570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Ozge Samanci is an artist and an assistant professor. She was born in Izmir, Turkey, and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois

Editorial Reviews

As she recounts her event-filled, danger-filled childhood, Samanci manages to convey centuries of Turkey's history as well as the political and cultural upheavals that have marked recent decades there. But the focus is always on her journey of self-discovery, the struggle to hear her own voice and find a place in the noisy, often brutal world she was born into…But for all its seriousness, the book never seems heavy. Samanci finds humor in Turkeys political travails…

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

11/09/2015
Turkish artist Samanci's graphic memoir tells many stories. It's a simple collection of her childhood memories (sent out to buy milk, she instead sneaks into the local school to find her sister); a description of life under a military government ("Every Turk is born a soldier!" her textbook declares); and a fearless examination of her struggle to escape her father's expectations. If teenage Samanci doesn't gain admission to Turkey's finest university and become an engineer, her father worries that she'll die penniless. (Meanwhile, she idolizes Jacques Cousteau.) Year after year, she takes exams, tries to keep up with her academically talented older sister, and wrestles with a crushing sense of inadequacy. It's only when friends tutoring her admire the doodles on her math notes—"I love the coffee-stain people," one says. "You can be... an artist!"—that her true self is revealed. Samanci's caricatures of herself and the people around her, often drawn wide-eyed with surprise, make the sporadic episodes of political strife and urban violence oddly incongruous. But they're a crucial component of the story, one that resounds with honesty and humor. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jason Yarn, Jason Yarn Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"A bright, perceptive bildungsroman with a distinctive setting." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"As she recounts her event-filled, danger-filled childhood, Samanci manages to convey centuries of Turkey’s history as well as the political and cultural upheavals that have marked recent decades there . . . But for all its seriousness, the book never seems heavy . . . among [Samanci's] talents is knowing how to make even a harsh story take flight." - The New York Times Book Review

"A compelling graphic novel . . . at once emotionally fragile and strong, poignant and wry, heartfelt and ultimately optimistic." - Los Angeles Review of Books

"[Samanci is] a gifted cartoonist with an innate sense of pacing and a seemingly inexhaustible well of ideas for presenting information—the book bursts with maps, diagrams, pasted-in leaves, doodles, and ink stamps. It’s remarkably energetic on the page, and combined with Samanci’s appealing, reflective voice, offers a perfectly satisfying memoir reading experience: not just the story of someone’s life, but the chance to see the world through someone else’s eyes." - The Slate Book Review

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2016
Gr 6 Up—Samanci's graphic novel memoir is a humorous and moving portrayal of coming-of-age in Turkey in the turbulent 1980s. The story makes the political personal in ways that are perfectly accessible to young teens. Samanci's narrative is peppered with engaging details of her childhood experiences, including her relationships with her parents, uncle, and sister; the grueling educational system; and the difficult reality of growing up female in a politically and religiously polarized society. Throughout it all, Samanci struggles with her conflicting desires for success, happiness, and, above all, the approval of her critical father. The style of cartoon illustration combined with mixed media is used to great effect. In several places, the author employs rubber stamps to create pictures of people and concepts that were important to her when she was a child. The muted color scheme and stark backgrounds evoke the political and cultural tone of Turkish society. While there is some violence, it is used sparingly and is presented as an integral part of the narrative. VERDICT In the growing body of graphic novel memoirs, this one is a standout.—Maggi Rohde, Ann Arbor Public Schools, MI

School Library Journal

★ 2015-10-06
Humor and youthful angst lighten this graphic memoir of life in a country pulled strongly in different directions by conflicts between Western and conservative Muslim values.Samanci looks back on her youth and schooling with a dual perspective: as a middle-class child caught up in relentless family pressure to excel academically as the only route to a secure future and, in a broader context, as a woman in a country that was forcibly Westernized years ago by the revered Atatürk but is currently experiencing a cultural backlash abetted by a repressive and corrupt government. The mixed context results in some wrenching juxtapositions. Effervescent childhood memories include falling madly in love with a stylishly dressed teacher, the huge popularity of the TV show Dallas (this was the early 1980s), and, later, trying (and failing) to juggle drama classes at one university with math classes at another. These are punctuated by graphic scenes of executions, comments from hostile schoolmates about "westernized bitches," and a violent mugging on campus. Depicting herself with an unruly ginger mop that captures her character as well as making her easy to spot on the page, the author works dialogue and narrative around unframed, loosely drawn vignettes. These feature judicious spots of color, fluid lines, and occasional collage elements. A bright, perceptive bildungsroman with a distinctive setting. (Graphic memoir. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews