Girls, Girls Girls!

Two things I recommend for young women:

 

"I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday."

Of course everyone has hopefully heard of Malala Yousafzai.  I read her book a while ago and I can't recommend it enough.  In case you and unfamiliar, Malala is the young women who was outspoken about education for girls in the Taliban-controlled Swat Valley of Pakistan. She was fifteen when she was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school and was not expected to survive.  This eloquently tells her story. After the publishing of this book, she became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

This book is readily available at your local library!

There is also a young readers edition of the book that you can find here.

 Girl Rising is a documentary that I stumbled upon on Netflix and I highly recommend!  It's a powerful and moving film for young women and girls. Actually, everyone should watch it. Boys, too. It's available on Netflix (and also streaming!) 

This is an educational documentary about the lives of impoverished girls living in countries where education for girls isn't a priority and explores the dangerous inequalities that girls and young women face in parts of the world.

The movie shares the story of nine girls from different countries including Sierra Leone, Haiti, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Peru, Egypt, Nepal, India and Cambodia.  The story of each girl is written by a writer from that country and narrated by well-known  actresses.  Two of my favorite writers were included in this project Edwidge Danicat and Manjushree Thapa. The other writers of the girl's stories are Loung Ung, Mona Elthahawy, Maaza Mengiste, Sooni Taraporevala, Maria Arana, Aminatta Forna, and Zarghuna Kargar. 

This movie might be better for older middle school kids and teens as it explores some heavy topics such slavery, child marriage, rape, and human trafficking. There are matter-of-fact discussions of these issues, but nothing graphic is shown. 

Here is a link with more information about the movie and the Girl Rising movement.
Girl Rising