The Arab of the Future

This first part of former Charlie Hebdo columnist Sattouf’s autobiography was a controversial bestseller in France. It follows his early childhood through stints in France, Libya, and Syria, and his cross-cultural alienation from all of them. Sattouf’s father is Syrian, his mother French, and his story recounts the way his father commandeered their family life to reconcile himself with his Arab heritage. Though he is often forced back to France, Sattouf’s father takes teaching jobs in dictator-run Arab countries, then works to convince himself, and his family, that their near-utopian dreams are close to coming true. But through the author’s young eyes these regimes are revealed for all their weirdnesses and hardships. Despite his father’s determination to integrate his son into Arab society, little Sattouf—with his long blond hair—never fully fits in, and this report reads like the curious pondering of an alien from another world. Caught between his parents, Sattouf makes the best of his situation by becoming a master observer and interpreter, his clean, cartoonish art making a social and personal document of wit and understanding. - Publishers Weekly.

The Frozen Child

Francois discovers one day that, after touching a dolmen, his hands have the power to heal and rejuvenate. His life is turned upside down even more when he meets a nameless mute girl fleeing from a deranged professor who’s been experimenting on her. Ice is a little girl that Mervent professor cloister in total isolation, to conduct a scientific experiment. One day Little Ice fled and his path crosses that of Francis. Screenplay: Eric Corbeyran | Drawing: Riad Sattouf. The Frozen Child.

Vendée, early twentieth century. Professor Bernard Mervent, who runs an insane asylum, conducting an experiment on his own daughter, the child, aged ten years, is kept in complete isolation in a vast library. His only contact with the outside world is Mathilde, a maid who brings him his meals. Another child, Francis, son of peasants, he leads a normal life. Until the day he accidentally discovers he has a healing power. While Professor Mervent mourns the loss of his test subject, she is enjoying a moment of peace at the ancient stone table. Soon, an intrusion of a group of archaeologists sets in motion a deadly chain of events. Every mystery that shrouds the lives of the characters in the story gets explained in a breathtaking finale.