Review by Booklist Review
Taking up neatly where Aya (2007) left off, Abouet and Oubrerie continue the story of responsible teen Aya observing her girlfriends' flightier ways in their small Ivory Coast hometown. New mother Adjoua first pretends that mama's boy Moussa is the child's father but eventually admits that skirt-chaser Mamadou is; Oubrerie's cartoony artwork makes resemblance between infant and man stunningly obvious while retaining proportions appropriate to their ages. The theme of sex and betrayal continues as Aya's other best friend, Bintou, is seduced by Gregoire, who falsely bills himself as a Parisian; and when Aya accompanies her father to his job in the city and meets his secretary, she doesn't realize that an additional illicit pairing will soon be revealed to her and her family. Excellent pacing and nicely interwoven images and text make this a welcome continuation for readers familiar with the story's initial volume. Since characterizations are already established and not recapped here, new readers should start with the preceding volume to fully enjoy Abouet and Oubrerie's good-humored soap opera.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Abouet and Oubrerie's sequel to their 2007 graphic novel Aya is a charming comedy of manners about a group of young women--a sort of Jane Austen scenario transplanted to the Ivory Coast of the late '70s. Aya's friend Adjoua has a new baby, and everybody's pitching in to help take care of him, although he looks rather less like the purported father than like an irresponsible bounder by the name of Mamadou. Meanwhile, their starry-eyed friend, Bintou, is plunging into a new romance with a man whose urbane extravagance blinds her to his sneakiness. Mostly, though, this volume is about the cheerful, communitarian spirit of the place and time it sketches out--a moment of postcolonial African history when people didn't have a lot of resources (Adjoua is entering a beauty contest in the hopes of winning cooking oil for the fritters she sells), but had high hopes for the future. Oubrerie's scrappy, witty pen-and-ink artwork is a small delight: everybody's got exaggerated but subtly expressive body language and facial expressions, and the story's dashed-off but dead-on settings--with traffic blocked by wandering sheep and tin roofs near ambitious office buildings--make its tone of historical transition between tradition and modernization even more vivid. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The witty, Jane Austenesque soap opera of Aya's community continues in this sequel to the award-winning Aya (Xpress Reviews, 12/19/07), and Ivory Coast party girls Adjoua and Bintou carry on with their adventures. The pregnant Adjoua had married rich slacker Moussa as the "father," but when the fat, wide-faced baby arrives, his paternity appears to be of farther-flung origin. On her part, Bintou sets her cap for a big spender from Paris-or so it appears. Meanwhile, Aya's father, Ignace, commutes to a faraway job, where he becomes entangled in a second life that unravels suddenly when sales of his company's beer take a nosedive. Over it all, Aya studies, babysits, observes, and tries her hand at matchmaking for Bintou's cousin Herve. Throughout, the mating dance runs underneath, and now consequences and perfidies turn the plot more serious. With a cliff-hanger ending, this story seems to indicate at least a third volume, and we can certainly hope! As in Aya, the slice-of-life story told here paints with bittersweet humor a picture of women's lives when beauty contest winners can hope for a prize of cooking oil. Charming color art, a glossary, and a few South African cultural tidbits add extra appeal. For ages 16+.-M.C. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 10 Up-Picking up where Aya (Drawn & Quarterly, 2007) left off, Yop City continues the adventures of Aya, her family, and friends in prewar Ivory Coast. Adjoua is trying to convince the Sissokos that their son is her baby's father, but the truth comes out in a comedic episode. Moussa Sissoko isn't off the hook though, as his father decides it's time for him to learn the family business. Meanwhile, Adjoua's friends are spending as much time caring for the baby as she is, although Bintou thinks she has met the man of her dreams. As usual, all the action revolves around the periphery of Aya's life, but this time the drama hits closer to home at the book's end. Readers who haven't read the first volume will have a tough time following the action, as it picks up threads introduced there with little explanation. As in Aya, back matter includes more Ivorian detail such as recipes, childbirth customs, and a glossary. Oubrerie's illustrations are even more colorful than in the original and match well with the light, humorous tone of the text. An interview with the author is included. This continues to be a pleasant addition to both world literature and graphic-novel collections in its depiction of Africa as a more modern urbane place than much of the literature we see about the continent.-Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
