"Aya of Yop City" by Maguerite Abouet

Book cover, courtesy of Drawnandquarterly.com

               Despite its title, "Aya of Yop City" by Marguerite Abouet is not about what happens to Aya, even though she's the title character. It would be more accurate say that this graphic novel is about Aya, a student of medicine, as she helps her friends deal with beauty contest and children and her family deal with the pressures of her father's office job. This book offers a look into the life of the middle class in an African village (more like an American small town than what is typically thought of as a village) during the 1970s, including negotiating marriages, trying to deal with local beauty contest, and plenty of extra-marital affairs resulting in unexpected children.

                "Aya of Yop City" is a clever book with plenty of real-life drama. The author also does a service for readers who, like me, haven't read the first "Aya" graphic novel ("Aya of Yop City" is book two) by providing a listing of returning characters that is not only illustrated but also shows how each character relates to one of the main members of the cast. Other bonus features include a glossary of unfamiliar African terms, such as Claclos (a kind of dumpling) and Koutoukou (an alcoholic beverage), instructions for making a chicken dish seen in the story and how to carry a baby on your back as Aya does that are written in-character, and an interview with the author (her husband is the illustrator).

                I would recommend "Aya of Yop City" mainly to teens who either enjoy soap opera-style dramas or who want some insight into how people lived on the Ivory Coast during the 1970s. Though there is some humor, this book's style of excitement revolves around revelations of personal drama.

Fun fact: An animated film based on this graphic novel was released in France in May of 2012.

If you enjoy "Aya of Yop City," be sure to read the other books in the Aya series:

Book 1: "Aya" or "Aya de Yopougon"

Book 3: "Aya: The Secrets Come Out"
Book 4: "Aya: Life in Yop City"

Abouet, Marguerite, and Clement Oubrerie. Aya of Yop City. London: Jonathan Cape, 2009. Print.