The Ballad of Yaya Book 5: The Promise

La balade de Yaya #5

by Jean-Marie Omont, Patrick Marty, Charlotte Girard

The continuing adventure of little rich girl Yaya and her street urchin friend Tuduo as they cross war-torn Shanghai in the wake of the Japanese invasion of 1937 in hopes of finding Yaya's parents.

This nine-volume series chronicles their long

Genres: Comics, Bande Dessinée, Asia, Graphic Novels

96 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2012

Reviews

[Josh 谢翊杰]

This book I was the series makes me angry at adults and sad for the children. Although the theme of adults taking advantage of children has been displayed throughout the series, it has struck a new nerve. A woman pretending to be kind and helping, gives Tuduo adult sleeping pills, make him OD with the guise of "it will make you feel better". This is abuse and dangerous! All so she can trade Yaya to free her daughter, which is also totally wrong. The other adults have at least mostly been upfront with their abuse towards children, but lying and faking to gain their trust is somehow worse. The cliffhanger at the end, though! I need to open the next one right now!

[RVGSteve]

Volume 5 is entitled “The Promise.” This is due to Yaya and Tuduo making an emotional, heartfelt promise while Tuduo recuperates from a fever at a local war hospital. This volume showed off the dark side of humanity. As beautiful as the pastel-y colors are and as vibrant as the art is, this was a very dark entry and shows how low some people can stoop to when they have tunnel vision regarding their top priority.

Definitely not as fun or amusing as the other books in this series, but rather a stark reminder at how, especially during war ravaged times, desperate a person can get.

Brighter days ahead, I’m sure. I hope. But still a fantastic four star read. Bring on volume 6!

[Space Panda]

Yayaaaa! The author is pure evil 😂 He/she can't let us with that cliffhanger at the end!! 😢😭

This series is soo addictive. Really fast paced 'cause every volume is less than 100 pages. The style is very Studio Ghibli and we follow the story of two kids in a war. Tuduo is the boy and Yaya is the girl. The setting is Second Sino-Japanese War between China and Japon in 1937-1945 (period of time of the World War II)

[margaux]

Mimiii