Aya: Life in Yop City
by Marguerite Abouet
Quiscalus is Grackle & Grackle’s book club. We read books translated into English. Join here, anytime.
We can’t speak all the languages, but we can do the next best thing: align our brains in the thought patterns, progressions, and images those languages produce. Join us for a lively discussion of contemporary books-in-translation
THURSDAY DEC 20, 2022 10 6:30 to 8:30
Aya: Life in Yop City by Marguerite Abouet, translated to English by Helge Dascher(French)
From Words Without Borders: Ivory Coast, 1978. It’s a golden time, and the nation, too-an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa-seems fueled by something wondrous. Aya is loosely based upon Marguerite Abouet’s youth in Yop City. It is the story of the studious and clear-sighted nineteen-year-old Aya, her easygoing friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their meddling relatives and neighbors. It’s a wryly funny, breezy account of the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yop City.
Clément Oubrerie‘s warm colors and energetic, playful line connect expressively with Marguerite Abouet’s vibrant writing. This reworked edition offers readers the chance to immerse themselves in Abouet’s Yop City, bringing together the first three volumes of the series in Book One. Drawn & Quarterly will release volumes four through six of the original French series (as yet unpublished in English) in Book Two. Aya is the winner of the Best First Album award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, the Children’s Africana Book Award, and the Glyph Award; was nominated for the Quill Award, the YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels list, and the Eisner Award; and was included on best of lists from The Washington Post, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.
Club Information: You can join at any moment during the reading series, don’t worry if you miss the first or second book. We suggest up to a $50 donation for the class, but price is up to you on the payment portal. We want you here, talking about books from around the world! Sign up here. It will collect your information and help us plan.