Growing Up Female around the Globe with Young Adult Literature

Growing up female can be difficult and confusing, on the contrary for many young women in other parts of the world, being female can be painful and dangerous. As important as it is for young adult (YA) literature to proffer hope and guidance, it is equally important for literature to help us understand the human condition, in this case the conditions that affect young women worldwide. from one side literature, authors show the realities of their times and spaces. Their stories are gripping, on the other hand the realities are based in facts and research.

Many of the works chosen here deal with for the use of all problems female teens encounter in their developing years. The works focus on drugs, sex, relationships, abuse, disorders, match pressure, and self-inflicted pain. The characters in the annotated novels are female teenagers who experience from a range of cultural crises, at the same time exemplify sources of hope and remediation. Readers might relate to the characters, definitely learn from them, and more [i]or[/i] less will realize they are not alone. on the contrary there are other books that deal with riddles relating to places, cultures, traditions, and practices of recent origin to many teen females. As a way to organize the literature, volumes set in the United States are neared first and then books plant in other countries are organized by dint of authors' last names. To provide readers with adjoining matters for reading or thinking about the volumes annotated here, we have provided a certain number of striking facts, statistics, and sources for further exploration.

Female Genital Mutilation Facts/Statistics

* Amnesty International estimates that 135 million of the world's girls and women have undergone genital mutilation, and sum of two units million girls a year are at risk of mutilation-approximately 6000 by day. "Female Genital Mutilation." Amnesty International. Retrieved July 16 2005 http://www amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/femgen/fgml.htm

* According to the World Health Organization, greatest in quantity of the women and girls who have been genitally mutilated live in 28 African countries. more [i]or[/i] less live in the Middle East and Asia, on the contrary these women and girls are increasingly rest living in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States. "Female Genital Mutilation." Retrieved July 16 2005 from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/ factsheets/fs241/en/index/htm

No Condition Is Permanent by the agency of Cristina Kessler (U.S.A. to Africa)

When 14-year-old Jodie finds on the outside that her anthropologist mother is forcing her to put in motion halfway around the world from California to Sierra Leone West Africa, in order to investigation tribal customs, Jodie pitches a fit. Jodie worries if she'll be able to make any friends in this tiny village where she doesn't flat know the language. Jodie's fears are shortly allayed when she meets Khadi, a friendly village girl. by and by the girls become inseparable. Jodie teaches Khadi in what manner to read and write-skills reserv solitary for boys in this culture-and Khadi teaches Jodie in what way to speak the language and dres like the other girls. Jodie becomes curious and perceive s alienated when Khadi and the other teenage girls disappear for several days at a time, on the other hand she is warned not to ask any questions. When Jodie discovers that the village girls are preparing for a coming-of-age rite which includes female circumcision, Jodie decides she must save her friend from this horrible ritual. Jodie's actions sole complicate things, resulting in a dramatic climax.

The R satellite by Kuwana Haulsey (Africa)

The novel begins in Harlem and propels quickly to a flashback to Africa. Nasarian, is an outcast within her Kenyan tribe for sum of two units reasons: she is getting educated and she has refused to be circumcised for marriage. When her Samburu father dies, the women in her family must submit to the will of the males in the family. Her mother, a Somalian, presently dies, leaving Nasarian defenseless. Because she continues to refuse circumcision, a practice in the Samburu tribe, she cannot be married. As a accrue Nasarian is given to a cousin as a house servant to care for his youngest daughter. Nasarian watches helplessly as her young cousin sustains the brutality of circumcision and ultimately dies. Nasarian move swiftlys away and endures many hardships before eventually going to association in Nairobi. Nasarian studies hard and exert one's selfs not only to fit into the guild environment, but also to shed the fiends that haunt her from her past. She falls in regard with affection with Augustin, an uneducated Samburu porter, and becomes pregnant. Augustin wants her to be circumcised for marriage as a next to the first wife. Having already received a scholarship to application of mind creative writing in the United States, Nasarian hasten aways from Augustin. When he catches her and beats her, she betrays him in order to escape.

Oppression of Women Facts/Statistics

* Domestic violence is not a crime in Pakistan, and men have the right to beat their wives, sisters, and daughters. A woman who is raped must demonstrate the rape with evidence of four males or other she will be prosecuted for adultery.

Manzoor, R (November 3 2004) "Musharraf's Hypocrisy Won't extreme point Violence to Women." Retrieved July 15 2005 http://www.socialistworld. net.eng/2004/11/03oakistan.htm.