Graphic Novel 2

"You're getting on my nerves, Aya, university is for men, not girls." "And I'll find a rich husband to take care of me?" "Right. In fact, we're having supper with my boss, I want you to meet his son."

Marguerite Abouet's Aya tells the story of three teen girls living in a working class suburb in the Ivory Coast, in Africa, during 1978. The artwork is beautifully rendered by Clément Oubrerie. The book illustrates the vibrancy and joie de vivre of the culture. As the publisher states, "[this is] an Africa we rarely see-spirited, hopeful and resilient."

Aya is a 19 year old girl who wants to be a doctor and has little interest in the aggressive men she meets. She is a strong independent woman with a good head on her shoulders but she is also caring and does what she can to support her friends, Adjoua and Bintou, who would rather dance than study.

Aya examines social problems including the class divide, teen pregnancy, abuse and the role of women while remaining light hearted, funny and thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommended for people ages 15-18. Some mature themes.

The details: Abouet, Marguerite and Clément Oubrerie. Aya. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2007.

Award Winning Fiction

"Take away the ceiling and there's millions, trillions of stars...Out on the prairies on a clear night, you can see every one of them. As long as you can find the stars, Noreen, or even imagine them, you can convince yourself that you don't feel lonely."

Martha Brooks’ True Confessions of a Heartless Girl is an examination of the power of community to heal the wounds that each of us silently endures Although subtly tied to the perspective of seventeen-year-old Noreen, the book provides a multiplicity of perspectives that compel the reader’s interest in the secret struggles of each character inhabiting the small town of Pembina Lake, MB, where citizens live shoulder to shoulder without ever really knowing each other. Playing with the metaphor of stars, Brooks examines the hopes and dreams of three generations yearning for something more.

The beauty of this novel lies in its language (veins of light flashed across the sky, an immense and rounded womb) and in the little moments of connection that overcome the loneliness that lies beneath the delicate surface of our skin. Essentially we are all, at some level, screw ups like Noreen. And only in the fleeting and rarest of moments where we reach out to another human being can we overcome all this pain we cause ourselves and others.

A lovely book, utterly lovely, but sad too. Hopeful in the end (which keeps Confessions from teetering into tragedy). Recommended for 16-18 year old readers or older. Mature themes and language.

The details: Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl. Toronto: Groundwood, 2002.