Saturday, June 23, 2007

The African Teen: Aya's Graphic Storytelling

Africa may inspire images of poverty, disease, violence and Bono, but graphic novelist Marguerite Abouet and illustrator Clément Oubrerie offer a different perspective, one atypical from the usual stories about the continent. Set in late 1970s Ivory Coast, Aya follows the 19-year-old title character as she pursues her dream of medical school while her girlfriends deal with dating and other teen pitfalls. The girls’ trials with relationships, abusive parents and teen pregnancy often resemble the Lifetime movies we secretly love so much, but Oubrerie’s vibrant artwork and an undercurrent of humor prevent the story from becoming overly melodramatic. Abouet shows us an Africa we rarely see on the news or in movies, and drives home the point that growing up is the same difficult journey in Africa as it is anywhere else. So, while you take your time choosing which of the 20 covers you want of the Vanity Fair Africa issue (we’re always a sucker for Clooney here), pick this up, too.

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