Explore A Woman’s Coming Of Age Story In ‘We Served The People’
by James Ferguson
Eisner-nominated cartoonist Emei Burell explores the stories her mother shared of growing up in mid-1960s Communist China in We Served the People: My Mother’s Stories, coming in April 2020 from Boom! Studios. She’ll discover a connection to her family history and heritage along the way.
The original graphic novel follows Emei’s mother, Yuan Ye Ping as she recounts how she ended up as one of the few truck-driving women during the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement. This sought to increase agricultural outreach and spur social and ideological change among youth. Burell showcases the tremendous political upheaval and introduces us to a young woman in a new era of self-discovery.
Burell says:
Getting to work on such a personal story of someone who I love and admire so much is truly amazing. I can’t wait to share with the world all of the incredible stories that my mother has shared with me growing up until now.
We Served the People: My Mother’s Stories will be published under Boom! Studios’ Archaia imprint.
Sierra Hahn, Executive Editor, Boom! Studios adds:
Emei explores her mother’s sometimes funny and often inspiring stories of working agriculture during a time of immense political change in China during the late 1960s. Throughout the constant relocations and endless days of back-breaking physical labor, Yuan Ye Ping lost none of her joy, humor, or sense of adventure and ambition—attributes her daughter shares and poured lovingly into each page of this graphic novel.
We Served the People: My Mother’s Stories is set for release in April 2020.
