I AM KYLIAN

Timed as a tie-in for the 2026 FIFA World Cup competition, this translated graphic memoir, originally released in France in 2021, introduces a prominent young French footballer of Algerian and Cameroonian descent.

Beginning with what the author dubs his “world premiere” in the suburbs of Paris in 1998—a montage of crying, puking baby Kylian being briskly cleaned and plopped into a bassinet with a tiny soccer ball—Faro arranges hundreds of small, borderless cartoon vignettes in rows to retrace his confidently smiling subject’s early struggles to convince his well-meaning parents and teachers that they should stop trying to make him well-rounded since he was destined for soccer stardom. The narrative repeatedly grinds to a halt in the second half over details of contract negotiations between the rising star’s parents and the numerous academies and professional clubs that flocked to woo them; younger audiences are unlikely to care as much as Mbappé does about these ins and outs of coaching compatibility, values, and guaranteed play time. Readers hoping for dramatic tales of awesome feats will be disappointed by the limited on-field action. Instead, Mbappé’s focus is on the support he received as a “hyperactive,” academically gifted, soccer-obsessed child from his nurturing (if often frazzled) extended family; he imparts a clear sense of his big personality and relentless drive.

Lively and engaging in tone.