Author: Bessora
Illustrator: Barroux
Title: Alpha: Abidjan to Paris
Translator: Sarah Ardizzone
Publication Info:
Summary/Review:
This graphic novel made up of simple felt-tip drawings follows Alpha Coulibaly as he attempts to migrate from Côte d’Ivoire to France. Alpha’s wife and child left earlier to live with a sister-in-law in Paris, and he’s not heard from since. The dream of reunion carries Alpha for 18 months as he travels in crowded vehicles across hot deserts, lives and works in refugee camps, and sees the suffering and deaths of the companions he meets along the way, including a child traveling unaccompanied. It’s a heartbreaking yet matter-of-fact story of what far too many people encounter as refugees today.
Recommended books: Aya by Marguerite Abouet
Rating: ****
Panorama of the Mountains 