An unforgettable, boundary-busting, falling-over-funny collection that defies the narrow representations English-language...
Compiled from a bestselling comics franchise in France, this import captures the hilarious misadventures of a township girl as she rewrites the bounds of African girlhood one comical short story at a time.
“Akissi, do you want to look beautiful?” her mother says as Akissi suffers the pain of getting her hair twisted. How does young Akissi respond? “No Mum! I want to be ugly and bald!” This is how the over-the-top story “Lice Games” begins as Akissi searches for a way out of these excruciating hairdo sessions by self-initiating her own head-lice infestation. Such mortifying premises can be found throughout this extended English compilation (containing the same seven stories as the 2013 volume of the same name, plus many more), taken to their unpredictable and uproarious conclusions. The rivalry between Akissi and her older brother, Fofana, takes the spotlight as the source of much ribbing and many pranks. In “Tattle Tattle, Toil and Trouble,” Fofana squeaks out a win (possibly just until their parents find out…), while in “Midnight Pee,” Akissi is able to get one over on him, leaving Fofana with surprise soiled laundry (yeah, it goes there) on an overnight camping trip with their grandparents. French artist Sapin provides the loose, colorful illustrations that accompany Abouet’s tales, which take inspiration from her childhood growing up in the Yopougon neighborhood of Abidjian, Ivory Coast.
An unforgettable, boundary-busting, falling-over-funny collection that defies the narrow representations English-language readers receive of growing African girls—we stand desperately in need of more Akissi and more Abouet. (recipes) (Graphic short stories. 8-14)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-47-8
Page Count: 188
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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