10th Grade Extended Research Project (ERP): 5 - Gender Equality

"I'm a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no."
Nujood Ali's childhood came to an abrupt end in 2008 when her father arranged for her to be married to a man three times her age. With harrowing directness, Nujood tells of abuse at her husband's hands and of her daring escape. With the help of local advocates and the press, Nujood obtained her freedom - an extraordinary achievement in Yemen, where almost half of all girls are married under the legal age. Nujood's courageous defiance of both Yemeni customs and her own family has inspired other young girls in the Middle East to challenge their marriages. Hers is an unforgettable story of tragedy, triumph, and courage. AVAILABLE: WSA Library and Kitsap Regional Library

Worldwide, over 130 million girls are not in school.
But one girl with courage is a revolution.

Girl Rising, a global campaign for girls’ education, created a film that chronicled the stories of nine girls in the developing world, allowing viewers the opportunity to witness how education can break the cycle of poverty.

Now, award-winning author Tanya Lee Stone deftly uses new research to illuminate the dramatic facts behind the film, focusing both on the girls captured on camera and many others. She examines barriers to education in depth—early child marriage and childbearing, slavery, sexual trafficking, gender discrimination, and poverty—and shows how removing these barriers means not only a better life for girls, but safer, healthier, and more prosperous communities. AVAILABLE: WSA Library and Port Townsend Public Library

In this collection of twelve short stories by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she explores the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa, and the United States. Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, these stories map the collision of two cultures and the deeply human struggle to reconcile them. AVAILABLE; WSA Library, Kitsap Regional Library and Ms. Garvin's classroom

Tambu, an adolescent living in colonial Rhodesia of the 1960s, seizes the opportunity to leave her rural community to study at the missionary school run by her wealthy, British-educated uncle. With an uncanny and often critical self-awareness, Tambu narrates her story. In addition to excelling at her curriculum, Tambu slowly reaches some painful conclusions--about her family, her proscribed role as a woman, and the inherent evils of colonization. AVAILABLE: Seattle Public Library and Ms. Garvin's classroom

Southern China, 1923. Desperate to secure her future, Mei Ling's parents arrange a marriage to a widower in California. To enter the country, she must pretend to be her husband's first wife--a paper wife. On the perilous voyage, Mei Ling takes an orphan girl named Siew under her wing. Dreams of a better life in America give Mei Ling the strength to endure the treacherous journey and detainment on Angel Island. But when she finally reaches San Francisco, she's met with a surprise. Her husband, Chinn Kai Li, is a houseboy, not the successful merchant he led her to believe. Mei Ling is penniless, pregnant, and bound to a man she doesn't know. Her fragile marriage is tested further when she discovers that Siew will likely be forced into prostitution. Desperate to rescue Siew, she must convince her husband that an orphan's life is worth fighting for. AVAILABLE: Seattle Public Library and Ms. Garvin's classroom