Winner of the Jackie Kirk Award
Winner of the AESA Critics’ Choice Award

“Blazes new trails in the study of the lives of girls, challenging all of us who care about justice and gender equity not only to create just and inclusive educational institutions but to be unapologetically feminist in doing so. Seamlessly merging research with the stories and voices of girls and those who educate them, this book reminds us that we should do better and inspires the belief that we can. It is the blueprint we’ve been waiting for.”
—Brittney C. Cooper, author of Eloquent Rage

“Nuamah makes a compelling and convincing case for the development of the type of school that can not only teach girls but also transform them…An essential read for all educators, policymakers, and parents invested in a better future.”
—Joyce Banda, former President of the Republic of Malawi

This bold and necessary book points out a simple and overlooked truth: most schools never had girls in mind to begin with. That is why the world needs what Sally Nuamah calls “feminist schools,” deliberately designed to provide girls with achievement-oriented identities. And she shows how these schools would help all students, regardless of their gender.

Educated women raise healthier families, build stronger communities, and generate economic opportunities for themselves and their children. Yet millions of disadvantaged girls never make it to school—and too many others drop out or fail. Upending decades of advice and billions of dollars in aid, Nuamah argues that this happens because so many challenges girls confront—from sexual abuse to unequal access to materials and opportunities—go unaddressed. But it isn’t enough just to go to school. What you learn there has to prepare you for the world where you’ll put that knowledge to work.

A compelling and inspiring scholar who has founded a nonprofit to test her ideas, Nuamah reveals that developing resilience is not a gender-neutral undertaking. Preaching grit doesn’t help girls; it actively harms them. Drawing on her deep immersion in classrooms in the United States, Ghana, and South Africa, Nuamah calls for a new approach: creating feminist schools that will actively teach girls how and when to challenge society’s norms, and allow them to carve out their own paths to success.

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Nuamah presents extensive research on the educational challenges that still exist for
girls…Her solution is ‘feminist schools,’ designed to foster ‘achievement-oriented identities’ in all students and teach skills like self-confidence, moral fortitude and bravery. Nuamah’s earnest writing style and persuasive research will leave you wondering not why, but when we should start constructing such schools.

"Research shows that schools are the most important institutions for improving life trajectories of the disadvantaged. How then,…Nuamah asks, can we transform schools to more equitably serve girls?...Her clear prose and approachable style make this a book for a broad audience." - Booklist (starred review)

"[An] incisive work that examines how schools could become safer and more equitable places for black female and nonbinary students." - Library Journal

"This book is a must read for every woman." - Girly Book Club

"Makes a compelling case that, to achieve the prosperity that comes with effective school environments, girls deserve feminist schools that aim to diminish the unequal experiences girls endure while endeavoring to simultaneously construct and achieve a solution to gender inequality." - Journal of Youth and Adolescence