Marguerite Abouet
Author of Aya
About the Author
Image credit: from thebrownbookshelf.com
Series
Works by Marguerite Abouet
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1971
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- writer
legal assistant - Relationships
- Oubrerie, Clément (ex-husband)
- Short biography
- Marguerite Abouet was born in 1971 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, in Western Africa. She grew up during a time of great prosperity in Côte d'Ivoire. At the age of twelve, she and her old brother went to stay with a great-uncle in Paris, where they further pursued their education. Years later, after becoming a novelist for young adults, Abouet was drawn to telling the story of the world she remembered from her youth. The result was the graphic novel Aya de Yopougon, published in North America as Aya, illustrated by Clemént Oubrerie, that recalls Abouet's Côte d'Ivoire childhood in the 1970s, and tells the humorous, engaging stories of her friends and family as they navigate a happy and prosperous time in that country's history.
- Nationality
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Birthplace
- Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Places of residence
- Romainville, Paris, France
- Associated Place (for map)
- Côte d'Ivoire
Members
Reviews
Really funny everyday adventures of a young African girl -- maybe a little too blue for American kids, but pretty hilarious and true to childhood -- the kids are always picking on each other, parasites are something you just pick up running around half naked, you have to try the things your parents tell you not to do in order to learn the lesson, wild animals will eat your poo. I think I learned most of these growing up in Texas in the 70s, come to think of it.
Aya is a university student in 1970s Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in a working class neighborhood they call Yop City. Her two best friends, Adjoua and Bintou, are always getting into trouble in search of love. They all live with their parents and siblings, who get into almost as much trouble as they do. In volume 1, Aya is set up with her father’s boss’s son Moussa, to her chagrin. Adjoua and Bintou are newly interested in Moussa now that they know his family is wealthy, and Adjoua gets show more pregnant so she and Moussa get married. Bintou’s cousin Herve is interested in Aya, but she tells him he should find a career and date her maid Felicite instead. In volume 2, the father of Adjoua’s baby is revealed, and Herve starts a car mechanic business. Adjoua, Bintou, and Felicite enter a beauty contest, in which their frenemy Rita, just returned from Paris, is also a contestant. Things at Aya’s father’s job are not going well, and the whole family finds out when his mistress drops their two kids off at his house. In volume 3, Bintou’s father announces he’s going to take a second wife - Bintou’s rival Rita. Aya’s mother is pissed about her husband’s mistress. Herve and Adjoua go into business together, and we finally find out who Adjoua’s brother Albert has been secretly sleeping with this whole time.
I love Aya’s close-knit little neighborhood. Everyone is always in everyone else’s business, but mostly in a good way. The story isn’t really a slice-of-life, it’s heightened like a soap opera, which really highlights the changing times. Aya and her friends are smart and educated women, but their community (including themselves) sometimes struggle to break out of a more old-fashioned society where marriages are arranged by their fathers and women stay home to take care of many babies and do whatever the men tell them to. It makes for a very enjoyable read while also providing a lot to think about. The only thing missing, really, is Aya herself. She serves as an observer, helping her friends get jobs and sort out their lives and helping her mother stand up to her father, but we don’t get to see much of her own life. I’m hoping to get more in the future.
The art really suits the material, with lots of browns and yellows and greens. The backgrounds are interesting but not overwhelming. He does a great job with varying skin tones and depicting complex hairstyles. I did sometimes struggle to read the lettering (as far as I can tell, Oubrerie did all the lettering himself) but that improved over the course of the volume. show less
I love Aya’s close-knit little neighborhood. Everyone is always in everyone else’s business, but mostly in a good way. The story isn’t really a slice-of-life, it’s heightened like a soap opera, which really highlights the changing times. Aya and her friends are smart and educated women, but their community (including themselves) sometimes struggle to break out of a more old-fashioned society where marriages are arranged by their fathers and women stay home to take care of many babies and do whatever the men tell them to. It makes for a very enjoyable read while also providing a lot to think about. The only thing missing, really, is Aya herself. She serves as an observer, helping her friends get jobs and sort out their lives and helping her mother stand up to her father, but we don’t get to see much of her own life. I’m hoping to get more in the future.
The art really suits the material, with lots of browns and yellows and greens. The backgrounds are interesting but not overwhelming. He does a great job with varying skin tones and depicting complex hairstyles. I did sometimes struggle to read the lettering (as far as I can tell, Oubrerie did all the lettering himself) but that improved over the course of the volume. show less
Akissi, a little girl of the Ivory Coast, is such a fearless, mischievous scamp even Dennis the Menace would hide behind his mother's knees and say she's out of control. This time around she's dashing through traffic, doping the teacher who uses corporal punishment, handling two different types of feces, stealing crutches from a one-legged girl, and "borrowing" babies from the neighbors to use as living dolls.
Somehow she's just charming enough to pull it off and even get away with three show more fever dream fantasy sequences. show less
Somehow she's just charming enough to pull it off and even get away with three show more fever dream fantasy sequences. show less
A little tamer than the first round, but still full of irrepressible and hilarious kid adventures. Akissi really is the best, you know. Even with a new rival, Sido, the potential of a new baby in the house, and the usual challenges of being the brattiest little sister ever. Someone has to do it.
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Statistics
- Works
- 38
- Members
- 2,048
- Popularity
- #12,564
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 120
- ISBNs
- 131
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 1