The Arab of the Future 2. Childhood in the Middle East

«The Arab of the Future» — a series of autobiographical comics by French artist and director Riad Sattouf about his childhood spent in Libya, Syria, and France.
The second volume covers the first year of six-year-old Riad's schooling in Syria. He... learns to read and write in Arabic, meets new relatives, and tries to become a true Syrian to please his father. Monotonous rural life and harsh school days in Ter-Maalekh, illegal shopping in Homs, awkward dinners at the home of a general with delusions of grandeur, an exhausting journey through ancient Palmyra — Riad invites readers to immerse themselves in the surreal everyday life of the Sattouf family in the country of dictator Hafez al-Assad.
The series «The Arab of the Future» has been translated into more than 20 languages, has received the Grand Prix of the RTL literary prize, accolades from the Los Angeles Times Books Prize and Prix BD Stas / Ville de Saint-Etienne, as well as the main prize at the International Comics Festival in Angoulême.