Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me

By Lorina Mapa. Published by Conundrum Press.

Softcover, 140 pages, B&W, 2017.

Young Adult / Memoir
Listed by YALSA as a Great Graphic Novel for Teens

A graphic memoir about growing up in the Philippines in the 1980s with Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and the EDSA Revolution.When she learns of her beloved father’s fatal car accident, Mapa flies to Manila to attend his funeral. His sudden death sparks childhood memories. Weaving the past with the present, Mapa entertains with stories about religion, pop culture, adolescence, social class and politics, including her experiences of the 1986 People Power Revolution which made headlines around the world. It is a love letter to her parents, family, friends, country of birth, and in the end, perhaps even to herself.

“A wonderful graphic memoir, tinged with humour and tenderness. Lorina Mapa offers up an intimate look at Philippine society and culture, but above all, a deeply endearing father-daughter love story.”
— Michel Rabagliati

Touching and joyous, with vivid recollections of food,
matriarchy, family, and politics told in an Hergé-inspired style that’s deceptively simple but apt for its subject.”
— Publisher’s Weekly

“This energetic, enjoyable, easy-to-read tale vibrates with youthful passion as Mapa tells the story of growing up in the Philippines of the 1980s.” — London Free Press

“With wide-eyed clarity and teenaged innocence, Mapa shows readers the rise and fall of a totalitarian state from her unique perspective: the awkward schoolyard conflicts, the upheaval of normalcy during days of general strikes, and the palpable tension of a family caught in the middle of a military coup.” — Montreal Review of Books