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Category Archives: A Girl Called Problem
YA–why the genre distinction?
An interview done by Scott Simon on NPR with author Claire Messud about her novel, The Burning Girl, recently caught my attention. The novel is a story of adolescent friendship, but it’s not labeled as YA. This distinction had me … Continue reading
Soccer, the Central American Way
Traveling or living abroad often provides great fodder for writing. New cultural contexts, languages and even natural settings provide us with fresh eyes on the world and on assumptions we make about how things ought to be done. A Girl … Continue reading
Posted in A Girl Called Problem
Tagged A Girl Called Problem, Costa Rica, fútbol, ganas, how to teach grit, Sari Swinging, soccer, Warmer Than Canada
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From a Tanzanian Village to Mumbai
Readers of A Girl Called Problem often ask me about my friend Modesta, the woman I dedicated the novel to and whom I introduce at the end of the book in my author’s note. Modesta was one of many village … Continue reading
Posted in A Girl Called Problem
Tagged A Girl Called Problem, Christian Science Monitor, Mumbai
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Let Girls Learn!
Today I’m celebrating the great work of the Obamas in their Let Girls Learn initiative, a project that readers of A Girl Called Problem will appreciate. As Shida would tell us, if you invest in a girl, you invest in … Continue reading
Happy International Day of the Girl
A few years ago, I wrote the following article for the wonderful website A Mighty Girl about the real-life stories that inspired me to write A Girl Called Problem and how they relate directly to the International Day of the … Continue reading
School Author Visits
I had so much fun last week visiting with students throughout New England. My first stop was at Boston Collegiate Charter School. For the second year in a row, 5th grade readers read A Girl Called Problem and then invited … Continue reading
Black Girl Protagonists
Congratulations and kudos to fifth-grade reader Marley Dias for exceeding her goal of collecting 1,000 books with black girl protagonists to donate to her school in New Jersey and to the parish in Jamaica where her mom grew up. “I … Continue reading
Tanzania’s 2015 Elections
If you’ve read A Girl Called Problem, then you know a good deal about Tanzania’s early political history. In fact, you should be able to tell a friend: When (what decade) Tanzania achieved its independence. Who Nyerere was. What ujamaa … Continue reading
Posted in A Girl Called Problem
Tagged A Girl Called Problem, CCM, Chadema, CUF, Lowasa, Magufuli, multiparty election, Nyerere, Tanzanian election 2015, Ukawa
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President Obama Calls for Empowering Girls in Kenya
As readers of A Girl Called Problem know, one of the central challenges faced by thirteen-year-old Shida in the novel is a traditional belief by some in her village that girls should not attend school. Even one of the teachers … Continue reading
Picture Book Pairings for A Girl Called Problem
I love reading picture books and am a strong believer that young children shouldn’t be the only beneficiaries of this great body of literature. I know some wonderful teachers who will sometimes use picture books to introduce new topics to … Continue reading
Katie Quirk 