“Aya is an irresistible comedy, a couple of love stories and a tale for becoming African. It’s essential reading.” —Joann Sfar, cartoonist of The Rabbi’s Cat 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 tr... continue
Dabilly, sacerdote recién ordenado, se enfrenta en pocos días a la muerte de ambos padre; huérfano y en crisis, reniega y antes que lo vayan a buscar, huye a África.
El niño adoctrinado y estereotipado que llama Camarada Papá a su padre (y que da el título al libro), más allá del humor y sutileza (una excelente caricatura del militante) volcado en el personaje, tiene un papel menor en la historia. Su madre no está con ellos, pero no los abandonó: se fue con su militancia al paraíso de Hoxha (Albania), con du... continue
Drawing on real accounts of the Ebola outbreak that devastated West Africa, this poignant, timely fable reflects on both the strength and the fragility of life and humanity’s place in the world. Two boys venture from their village to hunt in a nearby forest, where they shoot down bats with glee, and cook their prey over an open fire. Within a month, they are dead, bodies ravaged by an insidious disease that neither the local healer’s potions nor the medical team’s treatments could cure. Compounding the family’s grief, experts warn against touching the sick. But this caution comes too late: the... continue