Aya: The Secrets Come Out: Volume Three [Hardcover]

Marguerite Abouet (Author), Clément Oubrerie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009 | Series: Aya

Aya has captured the hearts of North American readers of all ages for the rare portrait it paints of a vibrant, happy, bourgeois Ivory Coast in the 1970s, based upon Marguerite Abouet’s youth in Yop City. Not only is Aya complemented with Clément Oubrerie’s gorgeous artwork, but the volumes also offer a slice-of-life peek into African culture: complete with recipes, glossaries, and wardrobe instructions for turning one’s pagne (brightly colored fabric) into a skirt, head wrap, or baby carrier. Engaging and fun, the universal stories in Aya provide a much-needed context for today’s heartbreaking news stories.

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 in The Washington Post, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Aya:

“Oubrerie’s style animates both the broadly funny and painfully grave moments in Abouet’s rhythmic slice-of-life storytelling. Grade: A–” —The Washington Post

“[Aya] wittily delves into both the political and the pop during an enchanted era when anything seemed possible.” —Vibe Vixen

“Oubrerie’s style animates both the broadly funny and painfully grave moments in Abouet's rhythmic slice-of-life storytelling . . . Grade: A-” —Washington Post

“Aya is D+Q’s latest cross-cultural gift, a charming and unexpectedly cheery coming-of-age story.” 

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“A cliché-busting glimpse into life in modern Africa.” —Body + Soul

“[The] characters and scenarios in Abouet’s story present a day-to-day view of West Africa barely seen outside of newspaper blurbs summarizing the country’s political strife.” —Venus

“[Aya] demystifies African life with a warm and energetic new voice. ” —New Jersey Record

“Abouet and Oubrerie act as convincing tour guides, presenting us with a lush, funny and humane Africa, one that's rarely depicted." —Contra Costa Times

“Abouet . . . has attempted to create something very brave in Aya—an intimate portrait of the African world that exists outside the glare of the media spotlight.” —The Boston Globe

“[Aya] brings to life an Ivory Coast not seen before—a place overflowing with vibrant, rich textiles, new words, music, food, and lively characters filled with humor, love, and the hope for a better life.” —Library Journal (starred review)

About the Author

The writer Marguerite Abouet was born in Abidjan in 1971 and now lives outside of Paris. The artist Clément Oubrerie was born in Paris in 1966 and has illustrated more than forty children’s books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 132 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897299796
• ISBN-13: 978-1897299791
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #895,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soap opera shifts to the parent's generation, May 31, 2010

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aya: The Secrets Come Out: Volume Three (Hardcover)

Aya The Secrets Come Out is the sequel to Aya of Yop City and the third book in the Aya series. At the end of the previous book, Aya's father's mistress showed up at the family's house with children and surprised everyone, and Gregoire, a man ho from France, individually convinced multiple local ladies that he was wealthy and was going to take that lady to France. In this book he's in town promising to take multiple girlfriends who don't know about one another to France.

This book focuses more on the soap-opera relationships in the parent's generation. Aya's father has the mistress problems which intrude on work and spur his wife to visit relatives and go on the warpath and possible dates with other men. Aya's father's elderly drinking buddy loaned a man money several years ago and in return was promised marriage to his daughter, now a teenager. The wives all talk about this and become angry and have meetings and such.

For Aya's generation, there is a beauty contest which all the teenage and twenty-something women want to win and get catty about. The hairdresser meets all of them and they speculate on who he's gonna date. It turns out to be a dude, but only Aya and her sister know about this.

This book is more of the same, and if you liked previous books in the Aya series, you will likely like this one as well. This is not a good book to come in on, because characters who were introduced in other books appear in this one with no introduction. It would probably be confusing and details would be missed if you were to read this without reading previous books in the series first.

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice book, April 22, 2011

By 

Norwegian fan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aya: The Secrets Come Out: Volume Three (Hardcover)

It gives you an inside view into the life of the ivorian coast in the 70's. And beautifully drawn. Read the whole series

5.0 out of 5 stars Love the Aya series, January 15, 2011

By 

Katherine Evans "piowapuff" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aya: The Secrets Come Out: Volume Three (Hardcover)

I have bought all 3 and am hoping for more. This one explains some of the mysteries from the first books. As always, beautifully drawn and great stories. Love the look into the life of the Ivory Coast in 1970!