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Products by Abouet & Oubrerie
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Aya of Yop City
Abouet & Oubrerie
The original D+Q volume of Aya debuted last year to much critical acclaim, receiving a Quill Award nomination, and praise for its accessibility and for the rare portrait of a warm and vibrant Africa it presented. This continuation of the dynamic story by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie returns to Africa's Ivory Coast in the late 1970s, where life in Yop City is as dramatic as ever. Oubrerie's artwork synchronizes perfectly to Abouet's funny and lighthearted writing, which together create a spirited atmosphere and scenarios that, however unique to the bygone setting, remain entirely contemporary in their effect.
The original cast of characters is back in full force, with a case of questionable paternity fanning the flames of activity in the community. The new mother Adjoua has her friends to help with the baby, perhaps employing Aya a bit too frequently, while a new romance leaves Bintou with little time for her friends, let alone their responsibilities. The young women aren't the only residents of Yopougon involved in the excitement, however; Aya's father is caught in the midst of his own trysts and his employer's declining Solibra beer sales, and Adjoua's brother finds his share of the city's nightlife.
ISBN: 9781897299418
$19.95 US / $19.95 CDN
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Preview (PDF) |
Aya
Abouet & Oubrerie
"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 TV ad campaign promote 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 19-year old heroine, the studious and clear-sighted Aya, her easy-going 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 Angouleme International Comics Festival. Clement Oubrerie's warm colors and energetic, playful line connect expressively with Marguerite Abouet's vibrant writing.
ISBN: 9781894937900
$19.95 US / $19.95 CDN
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copyright ©2004 drawn & quarterly
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