The only thing Yasmina cares about is cooking vegetarian food, mainly for her father. He works at a pommes frites (french fry) restaurant but only eats Yasmina's masterpieces. She runs into trouble when the community gardens she gets her food from are taken over by a company that makes these strange addictive potatoes. This has a lot of wordless (and needless panels) to stretch this out into two halves when it could have been one. Still I'm looking forward to the rest of the story.

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel, the style was gorgeous and Yasmina's interactions interesting to watch and see develop!

A really fun adventure story for all ages! I think this one would appeal to readers of science fiction, superhero comics, and humor. Yasmina is a determined heroine and the illustrations are great!

Yasmina loves to cook, and with help from her mysterious neighbor's garden and her two friends at a community garden in the neighborhood she keeps her kitchen well stocked with fresh herbs and veggies. But then the community garden is razed by a big corporate potato farm...and something's not right about those potatoes!

This volume is all about the world building and character introduction, and right when it started getting into the plot it finishes on a cliff hanger! I was so startled by the ending coming so soon, I really feel like it wasn't the best decision to break this into two volumes.

But I love Yasmina and her enterprising spirit, and I do hope she and her friends can overcome Big Business in the second installment!

Thank you, NetGalley for the preview of this graphic novel.

Yasmina and the Potato Eaters by Wauter Mannaert is such a delightful graphic novel! I loved the style of art so much. The story was a little weird, which only added to the charmingness of the graphic novel. I cannot wait for the part 2.

This graphic novel was really weird but I loved it so much, it has great diverse representation, and it's great that it portrays a girl being a chef, and cooking plant-based recipes for her dad.

Yasmina is a young girl living in a small apartment with her father in Belgium. She is also, especially for an eleven-year-old, already an accomplished chef with a passion for food, made even better by the fact she chooses to make healthy meals with fresh ingredients ... many of which Yasmina sort of pilfers from the rooftop garden of the top-floor tenant of her building, as Yasmina's dad works a low-wage job barely getting them by. Yasmina is skilled, her dishes unique and flavorful thanks also to the ingredients she gets from a couple of locals, friends, growing fresh produce in their own community gardens. But unbeknownst to the young chef and her friends, an insidious industrialized company plans to flood the market with a variety of addictive, potato-based processed foods, and soon gardens are bulldozed to make room for growing potatoes. When Yasmina's rooftop antics are found out and she's forced to purchase produce from a store, the young girl finds - to her horror - that the town and people she's known and loved aren't the same anymore, thanks to this new product. This wonderful graphic novel ends with quite a cliffhanger for Part 1, leaving the reader wanting more, but with beautifully-detailed art befitting the gritty western-European flavor of the characters and story (not to mention a plucky, engaging heroine in the form of Yasmina), it's still a joy getting there. 4/5 stars

Note: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

The artwork was beautiful in this food-focused whimsical adventure. The protagonist, Yasmina, was a great young character. The book delivered a very strong message about the importance of good eating and the planet on which we all live. This was an exciting adventure that was a joy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the complimentary ARC. This is my honest and totally voluntary opinion.

This is such a fun middle grade graphic novel. I loved Yasmina and her love for cooking vegetables. I also loved how the story deals with thought provoking issues, such as eating home-cooked meals vs fast food and different types of farming as well as makes one think about genetically modified food.

I hope I can get my hands on part 2 soon because I can't wait to know what happens next.

Yasmina and the Potato Eaters is a cute book with lovely character. I love the style of the illustration as well as the story. I would love to know the part 2!

A little girl encounters mutant potatoes. This sounds like a strange concept for a graphic novel. It is translated from French. That likely raises red flags for a potential reader. In spite of those things, it's a charming story. The sci-fi elements are fairly minimal, to be honest, and take on more the flavor of a classic B-movie. Yasmina is more a story of appreciating food. This is a story of a little girl who loves to cook, who enjoys the process of putting fresh foods together in unique and appealing ways. She appreciates the way that a good meal brings people together. Mannaert brings up organics, processed foods, GMOs, and general ecology. I should note, too, that while the genetic manipulation in this book goes bad, Mannaert doesn't out and out vilify GMOs. Rather, he seems to urge caution and thoughtfulness.
Artistically, it's very stylized. There's a heavy use of contrast more common in European comics. And there are many near wordless passages, so the illustrations are used to their proper effect.
I was frustrated to find that Part 1 cuts off rather suddenly, with no resolution of any sort. Certainly give this series a read but do yourself a favor and wait until you can get both volumes at once.

A seemingly cute, but at its heart thought-provoking read. Yasmina works hard to feed her father, and is provided with locally grown food by two friends who have community gardens nearby. Although they fight about how to properly grow their herbs and vegetables, their gardens are a staple for Yasmina and the community. Their gardens are bought from underneath them by a corporate big-wig who has big plans with experimental crops.

I was left on the edge of my seat by the end of this graphic novel. Yasmina is strong-willed and determined to take care of her father through her love of cooking. She packs a lunch for him everyday; even though his co-workers don't appreciate the healthy meals Yasmina cooks, her father treasures them.
Yasmina's love of cooking is what carries her through worldly stresses and struggles. When she runs out of a resource for food, she is determined to thwart the plans of the new company that is taking over local community garden space.
I loved Mannaert's art and the plot/characters of this book. Will read again.

Yasmina is 11, and an aspiring chef. She makes delicious, vegetable based lunch boxes for her widowed father everyday, and gets ingredients from 2 gardener friends - who don't get along. One day, the gardens are dug up and replaced by potato fields. When she next goes to the greengrocers, everything has been replaced by potatoes - which the public can't get enough of. How will Yasmina cook for her father now, and what's so special about these potatoes?

The main downside to this book was that it ended too soon. Luckily, the second is available to see what happens next!

I was drawn to this book for the curious title and cover illustration. This graphic novel did not disappoint in it's fun story with colourful illustrations and just the right amount of text. I'm looking forward to reading part 2.

Many thanks to the publishers for granting me access to a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

'Yasmina and the Potato Eaters Part 1' with story and art by Wauter Mannaert is about a clever young cook and an insidious addictive new food product.

Young Yasmina lives with her dad. She loves to cook and loves freshly grown produce. She gets food from a couple guys with community gardens, but when those gardens get bulldozed to make way for a new addictive potato crop, Yasmina has to look elsewhere for food. Yasmina turns to the roof garden of her apartment, but since she is not invited to take food, she is stealing. What happens when she gets caught? And what the heck is going on with the weird packaged potatoes that people can't stop eating?

I liked this story of a savvy young chef and her love of eating healthy because it didn't feel like a complete sermon. The message comes across well, and Yasmina is a completely likeable main character. I can't wait to read part 2.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I love how this graphic novel captures how people nowadays prefer eating fast-food or junk foods rather than nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables. The consumerism was also highlighted in the story and it shows that will consumers are too lazy to prepare and cook their own food so they buy unhealthy foods that these giant companies offer.

Yasmina's character is really great and young readers should look up to her because, despite her age, she already understands the importance of eating healthy food. Her passion for cooking, being a vegan and love for her dad is her other great traits, and I like how these characteristics of hers were emphasized in the story.

This is a middle-grade graphic novel but older readers will love the fast-paced flow of the story and the message that it wants to deliver. I'm pretty excited about what will happen to the next installment of this comic book because I want to know how Yasmina will fight those giant companies.

Yasmina is such a fun character, lovely comic book with brilliant, energetic illustrations. Great themes and ideas for discussions in the classroom.

3.5

This series is sorta monotone but still enjoyable. I wanna see how this goes if there’s more.

Cautionary tale - be careful with what you eat.

Yasmina is an 11 years old muslim girl living with her widowed father who works in a fast food chain. Yasmina loves to cook. Her dream is to become a chef, a vegan chef, so she reads about herbs and veggies , and her friends help her with free vegetables from their vegetable gardens.

But soon there will be great difficulties when everyone seems to lose their heads when a commercial product floods the market. Yasmine struggles to survive without supplies and tries to solve things on her own. Soon it seems that she must require the help of her friends to be able to solve everything that is happening.

There is a recurring theme about healthy eating, about pesticides , and the genetic manipulation of our food. Non GMO-friendly certainly. I can only approve.

There is humor to deal with the subject, and it does not become heavy. There is also dynamism in the scenes.

What I did not like was that the story treats so lightly that Yasmina resorts to [theft to feed her father and her. It is obvious that the money does not reach them, but she never talks to her father, nor does her father seem to realize the fact. (hide spoiler)]

It's recommended for +12.

Apparently, the original volume in French was divided into two parts, so this edition ends unfinished, and concludes in the second installment.

Yasmina is a cook. There's something strange going on in town. People are addicted to the Pat Tato brand of potato fries and they're acting like dogs—chasing the postman and cats and licking other people. The mystery might have something to do with her neighbour who lives in the apartment above and grows all kinds of plants, the same neighbour Yasmina has been stealing from.

When Yasmina's father starts acting strange, she realises he has eaten Pat Tato fries! Now she must find a way to change him, and all the other people, back.

This book is so charming! I love the illustrations and Yasmina is such an endearing main character.

I love feministy YA and middle grade! And girls who do what they want. And cooking. Really, this one checks most of my boxes. It seemed disjointed between storylines at the beginning, but it came together by the end. Once I fully got on board, it ended. Typical comic, being only 100+ pages and abruptly cutting off. The art style is very comfortable for me. Even the during the gritty parts of the story when the Big Bad comes to raze the gardens, the line structure isn’t too messy. I’m looking forward to the second part.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for a review.