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1st out of 10 books
—
3 voters
The Zabime Sisters
On the first day of summer vacation, teenaged sisters M’Rose, Elle, and Célina step out into the tropical heat of their island home and continue their headlong tumble toward adulthood. Boys, schoolyard fights, petty thievery, and even illicit alcohol make for a heady mix, as The Zabime Sisters indulge in a little summertime freedom. The dramatic backdrop of a Caribbean isl...more
Paperback, 96 pages
Published
October 26th 2010
by First Second
(first published 1996)
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Genre: Graphic Novel
Summary: This story tells the story of three sisters traveling through their teenage years. The sisters, from the Caribbean island, experience the first pivotal changes from childhood into adulthood together one summer. The story discusses several controversial yet relevant teenage topics such as boys, alcohol, and fighting.
Critique:
A. The artwork
B. In my opinion the artwork was the weakest point in this book. It was very dark which made some pictures hard to make out. The...more
Summary: This story tells the story of three sisters traveling through their teenage years. The sisters, from the Caribbean island, experience the first pivotal changes from childhood into adulthood together one summer. The story discusses several controversial yet relevant teenage topics such as boys, alcohol, and fighting.
Critique:
A. The artwork
B. In my opinion the artwork was the weakest point in this book. It was very dark which made some pictures hard to make out. The...more
This loosely connected series of graphic vignettes follows the three Zabine sisters and some of their friends around on the first day of summer vacation on the French island of Guadeloupe. First the eldest M'Rose drags her two younger sisters Celina and Elle out of bed and off to the river, scaring Ella with a story about a sinkhole. They run into some boys they know, steal some mangoes from an orchard, and then M'Rose heads off to join a bunch of other kids waiting to see some poor kid get beat...more
Reason for Reading: The plot. I enjoy stories of childhood and the setting of Guadeloupe certainly piqued my interest.
This is the story of a day in the life of the three Zabime sisters on the first day of summer vacation. Set on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe it has a unique setting of barefoot children amongst tropical flora and fauna. The girls start their day teasing one another with the most outgoing of the three, M'Rose, pulling a prank that scares the other two. The girls meet up with...more
This is the story of a day in the life of the three Zabime sisters on the first day of summer vacation. Set on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe it has a unique setting of barefoot children amongst tropical flora and fauna. The girls start their day teasing one another with the most outgoing of the three, M'Rose, pulling a prank that scares the other two. The girls meet up with...more
This is the story of a day in the life of the three Zabime sisters on the first day of summer vacation. Set on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe it has a unique setting of barefoot children amongst tropical flora and fauna. This is a poignant and candid story of childhood unlike most such stories; it is not nostalgic nor does it leave one with a sense of warmness. The author has captured that grain of malice that is inherently found in children and captures it perfectly throughout the day as it...more
This was a quick read, but The Zabime Sisters packs a punch. The author, Aristophane Boulon, was born in the Caribbean archipelago of Guadeloupe, and later moved to Paris to study art. His drawing style, a dry brush in black and white with little gray, is incredibly versatile; it can, in turn, evoke warmth, distance, and a wide range of emotions. The three sisters, M'Rose, Celina, and Ella, are on vacation from school, and this little window on their world, somewhere in the Caribbean, shows us h...more
On the first day of summer vacation, teenaged sisters M'Rose, Elle, and Célina step out into the tropical heat of their island home of Guadaloupe and encounter boys, schoolyard fights, petty thievery, and even illicit alcohol.
The artwork by Aristophanes is brilliant, with its intense slashes of black and white that are hypnotic and absolutely mesmerizing. I liked that the three vignettes comprising the story seemed random and unconnected, just like a lazy summer afternoon, but actually were conn...more
The artwork by Aristophanes is brilliant, with its intense slashes of black and white that are hypnotic and absolutely mesmerizing. I liked that the three vignettes comprising the story seemed random and unconnected, just like a lazy summer afternoon, but actually were conn...more
Three girls make their way out of their home, leaving their worrying mother behind. One of the girls elects a seemingly more dangerous itinerary than the other two, and that path leads her not just into the proximity of imminent physical violence, but into another story entirely. She steps not just out of the close comfort of her kin, but also out of a story line -- out of one and into another.
There's something entrancing about how Aristophane tells such a simple story, or collection of stories...more
There's something entrancing about how Aristophane tells such a simple story, or collection of stories...more
Meh. I'm supposed to appreciate this cuz its by a French Caribbean dude, right? And it's all slice-of-lifey? Well, it is so aimless and sort of lightly put that it amounts to nothing much. So some island kids get drunk on their parents rum and watch some boys fight. So what? However, I did think the art was pretty good, really inky and dark and somehow emotional. The story, what there was of it, did not really measure up. Oh well.
This felt like it could have been divided into distinct stand-alone graphic novels. I came to like it by the end, but it took some time as the storylines switched so frequently. I liked the characters, but would have liked to see further development (a good portion of the novel had nothing to do with the sisters). Overall, I'm intrigued by Aristophane and will hunt around to get my hands on more of his work.
The art in this book is full of contrast - the shading is nearly black and white, and the marks are alternately rough/hasty and highly precise. Reading the panels sometimes feels like leaving a movie theater and getting to a sunny street before your pupils have properly contracted. I appreciated the chaotic style of the drawings as an extension of the story's spontaneous nature, but I can see where some readers would find it jarring and difficult.
Apr 29, 2011
Thing Two
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Thing Two by:
Rain Taxi
Shelves:
country-france,
graphic-novels
This is the tale of the first day of summer for three sisters on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. It is a simple story of sisters, friends, childhood freedoms and struggles. What makes this interesting are the intricate panels which accompany each frame of the story. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this book is "War and Peace".
An understated story that rambles slowly through the first day of summer vacation for three sisters. An enjoyable coming of age story. I'm not a big fan of dry brush so I didn't appreciate the graphics as much as some. They were a little too loose for me but didn't take away from story.
via NYPL - An interesting look at social groupings and interactions, and striking artwork, but I can't help but feel that the characters (from a writing perspective and an artistic one) could've been sharper. I enjoy this book's ambition, but its reach isn't quite up to the task.
While I absolutely loved the artwork of Aristophane, the book felt rather unfinished to me. I feel like it would have been better served being published in separate parts, as the different story lines seemed mostly unrelated. A good read, but not a must-read.
Beautiful pictures and some beautiful language... especially for a graphic novel.
Simple subject matter in a simple yet beautiful way. Showing children on the cusp of young-adulthood faced with ideas of perception and peer pressure.
Simple subject matter in a simple yet beautiful way. Showing children on the cusp of young-adulthood faced with ideas of perception and peer pressure.
Very good character writing and art. Would have been more memorable with a strong ending and without the pop-psychology character analysis and heavy narration that crops up in the final third of the book.
A beautiful graphic novel about a normal day in the life of these three sisters on a day with no school. A normal day holds excitement, however. What will the sisters do?
Did not appeal to me. There were some points in the story when I liked what the author had to say, but overall this one was kind of meh.
I found this title to be just okay. While the art style was interesting (ok, I confess, it reminded me of Jon J. Muth's sketches of the Sandman), the plotline was kind of boring to me. Don't get me wrong - the plot line and dialogue seemed realistic but I just kept thinking that my teens are too busy living this to care about reading this. It seemed like it is more of a title that would appeal to adults thinking nostalgically of the first day of summers long past.
Striking artwork, but not my cup of tea.
only book in system, new author
It was interesting.
interesting illustrations
v. strong b&w art
reviewing for voya.
It was fine- a group of three sisters who I can relate to, even though we're from different worlds. Totally harmless, innocent look at childhood. Not the greatest, but not bad.
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Aristophane Boulon, who published under his first name, was trained as a fine artist before moving into the world of narrative art, where he made an immediate splash in the French comics world. Not quite ten years after the initial publication of Les Soeurs Zabîme, Aristophane died in 2007. He is deeply missed.
(For Ἀριστοφάνης, the Greek playwright sometimes transliterated as Aristophane, see Aris...more
More about Aristophane Boulon...
(For Ἀριστοφάνης, the Greek playwright sometimes transliterated as Aristophane, see Aris...more
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