For Caroline, being a girl is already confusing, and growing up in the small African country of Malawi, she is constantly asked the question, “What kind of girl behaves this way?” With a thousand cultural ideas flooding into her head from American TV and movies, she struggles to fit into the traditional African society she was born into. Instead, she chooses to stand out by taking risks that are curious beyond what is proper, leading to disapproval and harsh consequences. At nine years old, she finds herself enrolled in a high school at a boarding school far from her home and parents. Alone, she must finally answer the question “What kind of girl are you?” for herself.
What Kind of Girl? is a sweeping coming of age story about a girl in Malawi who must tangle with the gender restrictions, religious institutions, American cultural attitudes, and African traditions that seek to define who she can be as a woman. It is also a tale of how one girl’s story in a distant country in Africa can become all of our stories.
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