Cover Image: Yasmina and the Potato Eaters Part 1

Yasmina and the Potato Eaters Part 1

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Member Reviews

Absolutely gorgeous art! The book is incredibly pleasant to look at - everything is perfect, from composition to colours. Lovely!

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Received via Netgalley for review.

A cute little graphic novel about Yasmina, who loves to cook, and her dad, who works at a fast food place to make ends meet. Yasmina's only passion is cooking, and on her way to and from school, she stops by her friend's adjoining gardens to chat and gather vegetables for dinner that night. When the gardens are demolished to make way for a new kind of potato farm that people seem to become addicted to, Yasmina's food source runs dry.

I'm not sure why the story is split into parts; the majority of the first part is spent on Yasmina, her friends, and her cooking, and then ends almost as soon as the conflict is introduced (which is why this is a three star review and not a four star one!), meaning that it's a little slow. If it were a complete story, or I knew the second part was already out, these would be a good addition to the library, but otherwise I think kids wouldn't necessarily feel any anticipation for the second part.

The art is great, though! Colorful and sharp, with the food really shining. The lunches Yasmina packs her father always look delicious, and the coloring is bright and smooth.

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A fun read with wonderful illustrations and interesting characters. The book ended on a cliff hanger that wasn't frustrating and left me wanting to read the next installment.

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At first I was really excited about the book. I'm a visual person and love comics. As I kept reading, I realized the cultural context of this book was non-American, but certainly European. The average American clientele will be puzzled by some of the happenings of the book.

The farther I read, the more confusing the actual plot became. I believe because the author took a simple concept and formed a complex and elaborate story, it is easy to become confused on the message the author is trying to bring across. Therefore, when I came to the last page, I felt like it was a cliffhanger. It wasn't until I realized the author wanted to express a simple concept (natural food is better than fast food/processed food) that the ending made sense. However, because the story and drawings were complex, I believe the audience will not completely interact with the book. The graphics, on the other hand, were well done.

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I loved this graphic novel. Didn't know which direction the story would go and it was a really pleasant surprise.

This is a story about a girl who loves to the cook. She enjoys picking out vegetables, talking to the farmers, making a meal for her father, cooking dinner and walking around in her chef attire. One day, something happens to disrupt this pattern and she's tries to understand what has changed.

The story ends so abruptly. For some reason I missed the whole "Part 1" at the start and thought that was the end of it and got a little annoyed but I am so glad that there will be more. It's such a lovely story and the overall message I think is valuable.

I must say though that the art is very beautiful and atmospheric. I love the coloring and the details. One of my favorite scenes is when she packs her dad's lunch and he lovingly devours it at his lunch break in a fast food chain sitting around his colleagues who are eating burgers and fries and are mesmerized by the daily new dishes and all the smells that come out of it that his daughter packs for him. He never knows what the next meal will be until he reads the letters she leaves for him.

There are a lot of beautiful scenes and moments like the book and I can't wait to read more.

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Oh my goodness, Yasmina is a girl after my own heart. Passionate about cooking and gardening, she has very little interest in classes at school. Her friends at the local community gardens keep her both fed and entertained. Life at home isn’t the easiest, but Yasmina and her dad make it all work. I can’t wait to read the next issue to see what Yasmina and her gardening friends do about these pesky potato eaters!

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This a wonderfully comic book story full of wit and implied humour through words and pictures.
Through the efforts of Europe COMICS this work by the talented Wauter Mannaert Artist & Scriptwriter is brought to an English reading audience.
It is in part the story of the humble potato, which is loved in the form of French fries and potato crisps. Yasmina is the real star of this sage of people's attitude to food; especially vegetables. She has little money but has a firm desire to ensure her Dad has a healthy pack-up every day. She'll do all she can to scout for vegetables and salad leaf, asking friends, foraging the countryside and borrowing when all else fails.
She has to even act as an adult between two grown-up allotment holders who have different views about cultivating and producing 'good' food.
This is an unconventional story ideally suited to a graphic novel with clever links in this comic format. As with many such promotions for readers it is part one of a potential more far-reaching situation that could destroy food consumption and habits into a darker future. I for one can not wait to see what happens next. Yasmina is a ninja-chief passionate about good food

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What a fun and beautiful comic!  Filled to the brim with beautiful illustrations and text serving only to continue the narrative where the illustrations cannot, Yasmina and the Potato Eaters is an incredible comic about community, surviving in poverty, and critiquing capitalist endeavors.  

Yasmina is a fun-loving, food-loving cook who creates incredible gourmet meals, and each character we meet along the way holds various opinions and manners of interacting with food.  Is natural best?  Do pesticides work?  What's best--community-run or capitalist-run?  What can we learn from vegetables?  What can we learn from their production?

I would love to introduce this to my professor--there's so much to think about in terms of environmental criticism and ecofeminism, and a lot can be gleaned from this text.  Overall, this is fun, gorgeous, and really educational!  I'm excited to see where this tale goes and to see how it expands.

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A whimsical, food-focused adventure, beautifully written and illustrated. I’m hooked on the story and I can’t wait to read part 2!

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The artstyle was pure beauty, all the meals and vegetables made me hungry ! Yasmina is such a cute character,I would love to encounter more characters like her in my other readings, and the banter between Cyril and Marco was hilarious.

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My heart is full of warmth and I can't describe the joy that I feel after seeing Muslim representation in this. Yasmina is a spirited and creative little girl that loves to cook everyday - even if it means doing a little sneaking into the neighboor's garden to do it. It was honestly so beautiful to see how she always cooked for her father and how her father reacted to eating her food. I also really enjoyed the artwork and would have loved to see more dialogue between the characters. The ending of part 1 left me wanting more, so I'll definitely be looking into reading part 2 once it comes out!

However, i would like to note that I didn't read the synopsis before diving into this ( and I'm glad I didn't ) because I later realized that it spoiled part 1 entirely.

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The description of this book in Goodreads, as well as the publishers site, gives away too much about the first volume of this book, and then you will feel disappointed about where it stops.

Yasmina loves to cook, while those aorund her would rather eat french fries. In fact, her father works in a french frie joint, and doesn't partake in their food, as his daughter makes him lunch every day.

This book stops to soon, just as we get to the crux of the matter, and so it is hard to judge how good this series is going to be. But based on the run up to the cliff hanger, I am hoping that this young heroine overcomes the potatoes that threaten to take over everything


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In the meantime, this is a good start to what I hope is a great story about growing and eating healthy.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Yasmina is eleven years old, and lives with her dad in a small, city apartment. Daily life is fairly non-descript aside from her budding culinary talent. Yasmina can make almost anything in her kitchen, relying on goods from her community garden plot. On one eventful day, the garden is obliterated by heavy machinery and replaced by a field of potatoes. Bland as vegetables go, however, as scenes unfold, the reader discovers with Yasmina, that these potatoes are more than they seem. Are they engineered to be addictive and do they fall in the realm of science experiment? This story opens the door for conversations around the planet we live on, the food we eat, and stewardship, alongside a strong heroine and exciting adventure that is pure fun to read.

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I love the moments where the narrative is nearly wordless, and we are left with the images. The prologue of the book works largely this way. In other places, the images take up entire pages, but are also broken down into meaningful segments.

The art is attractive and the story is human and entertaining. Sometimes four, sometimes eleven, smaller images make up a page. This makes for a new way of approaching each page. The dialogue works with a similar variability.


The book is colorful and the protagonist, Yasmina, is a great young adult character. Perfect for comic book and graphic novel enthusiasts of many ages.

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There wasn’t anything really wrong with this book. The art style was nice and everything was simplistic. But I personally I didn’t like it. I don’t like graphic novels that do not have dialogue.

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Excellent art style and interesting characters in a wonderful narrative arc. This was a real winner from the first page.

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Yasmina is a passionate cook with a love for experimentation. When her vegetable sources get plowed over in sweeping commercialization, she finds herself looking for another solution.

The charming illustrations combined with Yasmina's feisty character immediately draw the reader in. Can't wait for Vol. 2!

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Beautiful ~ Silly ~ Charming
tl; dr: Chef must lie, cheat, and steal; but the perfect recipe is worth it.

This gorgeous graphic novel shows the story of Yasmine maker of lovely food, wearer of a chef's toque. I loved, loved this graphic novel. I do happen to love food and good illustration. But, this book would be fun for a lover of a good story or great graphic novels. I can't recommend this book enough.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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