Chef Yasmina and the Potato Panic

by Wauter Mannaert

Overview

An American Library Association 2021 Best Graphic Novel for Children

In this silly, action-packed graphic novel, a young chef must protect her town from an onslaught of scientifically enhanced, highly addictive potatoes!

Yasmina isn’t like the other kids in her city. Maybe it’s the big chef hat she wears. Or the fact that she stuffs her dad’s lunchbox full of spring rolls instead of peanut butter and jelly. She might be an oddball, but no one can deny that Yasmina has a flair for food. All she needs to whip up a gourmet meal is a recipe from her cookbook and fresh vegetable form the community garden.

But everything changes when the garden is bulldozed and replaced with a strange new crop of potatoes. Her neighbors can’t get enough of these spuds! And after just one bite their behavior changes—they slobber, chase cats, and howl at the moon. What's the secret ingredient in these potatoes that has everyone acting like a bunch of crazed canines? Yasmina needs to find a cure, and fast!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250622051
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	02/09/2021
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	1,090,492
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Wauter Mannaert, born in 1978, has a master's degree in film and animation from the Saint Luc Arts Institute in Brussels, which he obtained in 2002. He currently works in the Belgian capital as a graphic novelist, illustrator, and cartoonist. Following his studies, and before turning towards comics, he specialized in media education and worked for years with youth in one of Brussels’ most deprived neighborhoods. His graphic novels include Weegee: Serial Photographer (written by Max de Radiguès) and El Mesías (written by Mark Bellido and available in English from Europe Comics).

Editorial Reviews

01/11/2021

Eleven-year-old chef Yasmina, a lanky child with thick squiggles of black hair and light skin, believes food is, first and foremost, about love, which puts her immediately at odds with shady businessman and potato farmer Tom de Perre. Purchasing and razing the two local community gardens Yasmina frequents for fresh vegetables, de Perre evicts elderly pesticide user Cyril and younger guerrilla gardener Marco to grow genetically modified flavored potatoes. Yasmina, who cooks plant-based lunches and dinners daily for her working father after her mother’s passing, is rightfully indignant, but when the townsfolk—including her father—start acting strange, she must investigate with Cyril, Marco, and a mysterious neighbor to save them. Belgian creator Mannaert’s story remains tender throughout. His dynamic style, with thin linework accompanied by vibrant greens and lush salmon pinks, eschews traditional paneling in favor of floating, borderless glimpses into Yasmina’s world. Though a lack of initial conflict may make it difficult to dive in, Yasmina’s passionate advocacy for eating with care (“I should start a petition to have math class replaced by a cooking class”) sustains a wholesome humor throughout. Back matter includes notes on Mannaert’s inspiration and process. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A Junior Library Guild selection

"[Mannaert's] dynamic style, with thin linework accompanied by vibrant greens and lush salmon pinks, eschews traditional paneling in favor of floating, borderless glimpses into Yasmina’s world. ...Yasmina’s passionate advocacy for eating with care sustains a wholesome humor throughout."—Publishers Weekly


"A delicious and nutritious concoction of fun, thrills, and consumer consciousness, this comic from the Belgian Mannaert cooks up heartfelt characters, an exciting sci-fi mystery, and a bunny gag worthy of old Bugs himself."—Booklist

"Mannaert’s graphic novel is a silly romp of a corporate takedown heist, with charmingly drawn characters and well-paced action sequences."—Kirkus

"Yasmina’s creations look absolutely scrumptious and it’s clear that dad and daughter bond over her meals, making this ultimately a celebration of the art and heart of cooking; readers will just wish that Yasmina would share a...recipe or two."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Wauter, whose art was so exemplary on the recent Weegee bio by Max de Radigues, is genius at focusing in on the physical humor of a single moment, elongating it into absurd proportions and making Yasmina’s world burst with energy regardless of the vantage point the reader is offered." —The Beat

From the Publisher

01/01/2021

Gr 4–7—Eleven-year-old budding chef and amateur urban plant forager Yasmina relies on the extra bounty of her feuding gardener friends Cyril and Marco to cook delicious vegetarian meals for herself and her debt-ridden father, Omran. When a shady businessman buys and demolishes Cyril's and Marco's gardens to start a nefarious potato enterprise, Yasmina resorts to stealing from the rooftop garden on their Belgian city apartment. Meanwhile, city residents who are addicted to a new brand of potatoes terrorize the streets. With the help of the reclusive but brilliant upstairs scientist Amaryllis, Yasmina, her father, and her friends must address the strange behavior. The narrative relies heavily on the art, resulting in pacing that ebbs and flows until the action heats up in the final third. Often, there are long stretches of pages that contain art but no dialogue, requiring readers to pay close attention to the illustrations. Mannaert immerses readers in urban and naturalistic settings, an effect aided by borderless panel shapes that grow and shrink. While creative visuals set the book apart, it lacks character background that would have added depth. Visual clues allude to Yasmina and her father being Muslim but do not provide a clear definition of their ethnicity. Bonus features include an author's note, a short comic about Belgians' love of French fries, and behind-the-scenes concept art. VERDICT Those without a solid grounding in the graphic novel format may have a hard time making it through. Still, for intrepid readers, this is a thought-provoking tale of plant hybridization gone awry that will spur discussion on food genetic modification and business ethics.—Pearl Derlaga, York County P.L., VA

School Library Journal

2020-12-15
When potato products engineered for maximum addictiveness wreak havoc on her city, it is up to aspiring chef Yasmina and her friends to find a cure.

Eleven-year-old Yasmina creates delectable vegetarian meals for herself and her widowed father, Omran, who works at a frites shop in Brussels. The family is tight on money, so Yasmina relies on foraging, free produce from her friends’ community farm plots, and the occasional theft from the rooftop garden of her reclusive upstairs neighbor. But after a corporate potato company buys up the farms to grow their starchy produce, the city’s appetite for potato products becomes aggressively insatiable, with consumers displaying odd, animal-like behavior. Separated from her food supply, Yasmina increases her rooftop visits. When she discovers a connection between her neighbor and the genetically modified foods, it is up to Yasmina and her crew to save the day. Mannaert’s graphic novel is a silly romp of a corporate takedown heist, with charmingly drawn characters and well-paced action sequences. Sequential vignettes with free-form borders instead of panels add whimsy to the story’s flow. A bit oddly, given the story’s themes, food insecurity is not directly addressed. Mannaert’s cityscape is multiethnic, and contextual clues suggest that Yasmina and Omran are Muslim, but there are no identity markers to indicate ethnic heritage.

A wacky, stand-alone foodie adventure. (author's note, concept sketches) (Graphic mystery. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews