In 2013, CPS tried to ban a book. It didn’t go well. A new graphic novel tells the tale.
By Christopher Borrelli
Published on March 4, 2026.
A graphic novel by Jarrett Dapier, former teacher and librarian, tells the story of a controversial book ban at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago 13 years ago. The incident occurred when a school administrator demanded all copies of "Persepolis," a 2000 graphic novel from Marjane Satrapi about her childhood under the oppressive regime in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The school administrator, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, claimed she had nothing to do with the book's removal. Despite protests outside the school, “Wake Now in the Fire” was returned to classrooms with a few exceptions. Dapperer's graphic novel, which is partly an adaptation of a thesis paper written by a graduate student, covers a story of censorship, action, Love and Hope.
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