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Aya
"That's what I wanted to show in Aya: an Africa without the . . . war and famine, an Africa that endures despite everything because, as we say back home, life goes on." --Marguerite Abouet
Ivory Coast, 1978. Family and friends gather at Aya's house every evening to watch the country's first television ad campaign promoting the fortifying effects of Solibra, "the strong man's beer." It's a golden time, and the nation, too--an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa--seems fueled by something wondrous.
Who's to know that the Ivorian miracle is nearing its end? In the sun-warmed streets of working-class Yopougon, aka Yop City, holidays are around the corner, the open-air bars and discos are starting to fill up, and trouble of a different kind is about to raise eyebrows. At night, an empty table in the market square under the stars is all the privacy young lovers can hope for, and what happens there is soon everybody's business.
Aya tells the story of its nineteen-year-old heroine, the studious and clear-sighted Aya, her easygoing friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their meddling relatives and neighbors. It's a breezy and wryly funny account of the desire for joy and freedom, and of the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yop City. An unpretentious and gently humorous story of an Africa we rarely see-spirited, hopeful, and resilient--Aya won the 2006 award for Best First Album at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Clément Oubrerie's warm colors and energetic, playful lines connect expressively with Marguerite Abouet's vibrant writing.
Ivory Coast, 1978. Family and friends gather at Aya's house every evening to watch the country's first television ad campaign promoting the fortifying effects of Solibra, "the strong man's beer." It's a golden time, and the nation, too--an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa--seems fueled by something wondrous.
Who's to know that the Ivorian miracle is nearing its end? In the sun-warmed streets of working-class Yopougon, aka Yop City, holidays are around the corner, the open-air bars and discos are starting to fill up, and trouble of a different kind is about to raise eyebrows. At night, an empty table in the market square under the stars is all the privacy young lovers can hope for, and what happens there is soon everybody's business.
Aya tells the story of its nineteen-year-old heroine, the studious and clear-sighted Aya, her easygoing friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their meddling relatives and neighbors. It's a breezy and wryly funny account of the desire for joy and freedom, and of the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yop City. An unpretentious and gently humorous story of an Africa we rarely see-spirited, hopeful, and resilient--Aya won the 2006 award for Best First Album at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Clément Oubrerie's warm colors and energetic, playful lines connect expressively with Marguerite Abouet's vibrant writing.
Editorial Reviews
The writer Marguerite Abouet was born in Abidjan in 1971 and now lives outside of Paris. The artist Clément Oubrerie was born in Paris in 1966 and
has illustrated more than forty children's books.
has illustrated more than forty children's books.
Readers Top Reviews
Andrew ZaglanicznyIn
Through the warm and bright illustrations, this book tells the story of Aya and her two best friends. We see each girl go through a different coming of age experience. This story shows the hardships that women may have encountered in Africa during the 70's. While we did not see an educational point in this book, we thoroughly enjoyed the entertaining and humorous plot.
Aya is a funny and colorful look at what it was to be a woman in the 1970’s living in the Ivory Coast in West Africa. This book has warm and beautiful illustrations that tell the story of a friend group trying to figure out their place in life. These girls deal with the issues that come along with coming of age, pressure from parents, and divides in friendships. This book is a great graphic novel choice, and I encourage you to read it!
Brianna
Aya is a really upbeat and fun read for young adults and even adults to read. This African city novel is originally a French novel, but is translated into English and ties place in the Ivory Coast in the 1970’s. The graphic novel follows along the lines of a soap opera, leaving you want to keep reading to find out even more of what happens next. The characters are fun, unique and easy to follow. The book is very humorous and touches on topics of how women are treated and differences in social classes. The illustrations are vivid and fun and really capture Yopugon and their traditions. Once you get to the end of the graphic novel, you will not want it to end due to the cliff hanger that Abouet leave you with. If you’re like me you’ll be eager to get the second one, in order to find out what happens next!
I came across the book Aya in one of my college course examining international children’s literature. It was my first experience with graphic novels, and I really enjoyed it. I thought that the use of lively color choices and the drawing style made the novel very enjoyable to read. The plot line of the book is realistic fiction and it matches my choice in genre. It had lots of eventful storylines and surprises that I want to go a find the second book to read. This graphic novel provides an opportunity to analyze and discuss how gender roles are portrayed through the lives of these characters. We had many interesting discussions about this book in my class. I would recommend this book as a piece of literature to be available as maybe an independent reading book for students or as a book for entertainment. I would recommend this graphic novel for first time graphic novel readers because it followed a more traditional graphic novel set up and clear drawings and text made it fun to read.
Susan G
I usually don't read graphic novels, but I'm glad I read this one! This graphic novel tells an African story from a native African author. There is some humor in this book and that makes it more entertaining. The illustrations in Aya are all very detailed and colorful. The illustrations definitely make this book what it is. There are different colors and use of lines throughout this book. When the characters are angry, the illustrations are colored red and there are more lines involved. As a college student, I think this was a very interesting read. I am going into Elementary Education and I would definitely not use this in a classroom; however, I think it has some eye opening scenes. I wouldn't teach this in an Elementary classroom because it wouldn't be appropriate and it would be a challenging read young children. Also, there's not a big enough topic to educate students on. The biggest topic would be how women are treated. Men do not treat women very nicely in Aya. As a college student, I learned more about their culture in Africa. The illustrations helped me get a visual of what their villages look like. Aya is a character different from the other women in the book. Her life doesn't revolve around boys and partying, like many others do. Aya is determined to be a doctor. Aya is very easy to follow and a very quick read. I am looking forward to reading the next Aya book that goes along with this one!
