nice kind of soap opera set in Cote d'Ivoire, following three girl friends ( )

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel is set in Yop City, a working class neighborhood in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire in the 1970's when the nation was prosperous and chic. Abouet deliberately sets out to tell a story about Africa that is not about poverty and warfare. The story is centered around the daily lives and flirtations of three young women. <SPOILER> Of course there is some heavy stuff here when one of the young women becomes pregnant and is forced into marriage with the son of a wealthy Boss, but Abouet plays if off for comedy with the grown-ups as comic caricatures. </SPOILER>. Oubrerie vibrantly illustrates this book bringing out the beautiful colors of the clothing and the city as well as the humanity of the characters. I learned about this book via The Hieroglyphic Streets, where you can find more reviews, and apparently there are sequels that are worth checking out too. ( )

Engaging and charming, Aya of Yopougon is a graphic novel set in a working class suburb of Abidjan, the capital city of Côte d'Ivoire, in the late 1970s. Its best attribute is its sense of balance: Abouet's humour is acutely observed but gentle, and her view of her hometown is affectionate but never rose-tinted. This first volume helps counter the prevailing Western view of sub-Saharan Africa as a place of disease, conflict and famine—here is a country which has class and social conflicts, which has discos and restaurants, where teenage girls worry about their future and their boyfriends and reference characters from Dallas. I'll definitely look out for the next volumes in this series. ( )

This is a lovely little graphic novel. Shows a side of African culture that most Americans don't know anything about. A great book for adolescent girls--depicting the realities of wanting to grow up too fast. ( )

This was a really interesting look at the life of a teenage girl living in Ivory Coast Africa in the 1970s. The author wanted to show Westerners a side of Africa that isn't portrayed much in the news. "Yop City", the working-class neighborhood that Aya lives in, is full of peaceful, educated people who live comfortably. This romantic comedy could have taken place in any modern American city among teenage girls who vie for the attention of local guys, dream about college and the future, and sneak out of the house to go dancing in outfits their parents wouldn't approve of.