Grade and Subject: 10^th grade English

Topic: To Kiss a Girl by Ruby Yayra Goka

Objectives:

1. Analyze the book’s main themes, plot, and character arcs.
2. Make use of citation skills and knowledge of literary elements.
3. Formulate answers and thoughts about the book’s literary and cultural merit.

Materials: Handouts with possible discussion questions, copies of books, poster paper, markers, scotch tape, a ball of yarn.

Opening (5 minutes)

Present pictures that connect with the main elements of the book.

1. Death
2. Adolescence
3. First love
4. Family

These connect to the book’s main themes by connecting the characters’ experiences to images in which students are able to make connections. Open up a discussion to the class about other themes and plot elements of the book. I will also show a book trailer for the book which sets the theme for the book’s discussion for the day. This lesson will focus on literary elements and allow students to elaborate on important elements of the novel.

Direct Instruction (5 minutes)

Students will learn from a PowerPoint about the background information about the author and the novel’s context. This presentation will include cultural context and the applications to the novel. I will also introduce the plan for the lesson which includes a group activity and class-led discussion.

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

Students will be placed into groups of 4 and given a theme or character arc to focus on. The groups will each be tasked with creating a poster explaining the theme of character arc and citing specific textual instances in which these literary elements are shown. The posters will be hung up around the room for the duration of the lesson. Each group will then present their poster to the entire class and other groups will be able to ask questions about their reasoning and thoughts.

Assessment (15 minutes)

Students will be instructed to sit in a circle with all students being able to see each other. A ball of yarn will be used in this discussion to ensure that each student contributes to the discussion. I will start the discussion by posing a question to the class and then throwing the ball of yarn to a student who has an answer. Once a student gets the ball of yarn they will hold onto a piece of yarn and then throw the ball to the next student. Students will be encouraged to pose a question to the class or answer a question about the book’s literary and cultural elements.

Closing (5 minutes)

In this lesson, students were able to focus on literary elements such as theme and character arcs. A PowerPoint presentation elaborates on authorial and cultural contexts for the novel. Then, in groups, students were able to explain the assigned literary element and create a poster board that cites specific instances in the text. Students were also able to discuss the novel in a class-wide discussion focusing on literary and cultural elements of the text.

*This lesson plan format is from The Ohio State University’s Educational Psychology 2309 course taught by Naima Khandaker.

Works Cited

Goka, Ruby Yayra. To Kiss a Girl. Digibooks Ghana, 2018.

The widespread conservatism in the Middle East impacts the authors writing young adult literature for adolescents in primarily Arabic-speaking countries. One issue is that many of the authors of young adult literature in the Middle East are not able to write novels amidst the fear of backlash due to the inclusion of controversial topics relating to relationships. An article titled “YA literature treads carefully in the Arab world” by Marcia Lynx Qualey explores this topic within authorial and publishing perspectives. One author’s perspective that Qualey includes is Taghreed Najjar who has written a young adult novel titled Sitt al-Khol.  Najjar explains a young adult literature struggle compared to children’s literature: “there are too many taboos on what to write and how to write it— it’s easier to sell books for younger children under the guise of educating them or strengthening their moral fibre— but YA has to appeal to young adults to sell well, hence the dilemma” (Qualey “YA fiction treads carefully in the Arab world”). Najjar hints at this notion that young adult literature in the Arab world suffers from lacking in the more controversial topics many adolescents may search for in their literature. Thus, when the literature shies away from certain topics to uphold conservative ideals, the market for young adult literature suffers from a lack of adolescent engagement. Najjar also explains how the male-female relationship in her novel has caused adolescent readership to ask questions concerning whether or not the relationship was truly chaste (Qualey). Another young adult author, Hadil Ghoneim echoes this sentiment of young adult’s aversion to literature that does not include taboo writing: “maybe we tend to be on our best behavior when we write for kids. And maybe they don’t appreciate that and don’t read too much because of that” (Qualey “YA literature treats carefully in the Arab world”). In this way, these two authors’ perspectives express a common thread of adolescent readership in Arabic-speaking countries being disappointed with young adult book offerings which lessen the market’s ability to publish successes. Qualey also includes a publishing personnel’s perspective from Aisha al-Kaabi of the IQRani publishing house explains that adolescent readers are moving the market towards: “shallow romantic stories or books written by social-media celebrities” (Qualey “YA treads carefully in the Arab world”). This then shows a commonality among the young adult literature market in the Middle East which notes a shift towards less conservative values and relationships included which goes against the interest of adolescent readers. This is important to understand the ways in which widespread values such as conservatism impact the young adult literary market in Middle Eastern countries. Furthermore, allowing for international readers of young adult literature to understand the contexts surrounding the markets and trends resulting from issues in other countries.
 

Works Cited

Qualey, Marcia Lynx. “YA Fiction Treads Carefully in the Arab World.” The Guardian,           Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2014,  www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/nov/21/ya-fiction-arab-world-young-adu.

To Kiss a Girl by Ruby Yayra Goka is a compelling young adult novel published by Digibooks Ghana in 2018. The novel has been awarded the 2018 CODE Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature Honour Book. The theme of the book is a coming of age story centering around the familial and societal pressures on adolescent growing up in Ghana. Goka also explores a teenage girl’s coping with death and dying and the impact this has on her daily life. The book focuses on the main character, Gyikua Ampofo’s life after her older sister has been found dead and her mother has left the family to search for her. Gyikua must take over the household duties her mother once was in charge of including cooking, cleaning, and looking after her younger sister, Maa Sarfoa. The family is grieving the loss of Ntiriwa and adjusting to their mother’s absence in the wake of emotional upheaval. The father of the family serves as a pastor in their community and Gyikua experiences a loss of faith due to the loss she has endured of her sister and mother. The community they live in also has judgments surrounding Gyikua’s mother choosing to leave her family and the family unit bonds together against these opinions. Gyikua is also preparing for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and each chapter opens with one of her to-do lists of the things she needs to complete for the day which includes studying. She is also dealing with being ostracized by her old friends at her school which causes her to spend lunch periods reading alone. This also causes her to experience intense loneliness and even anxiety over the losses she has endured which cause her to not get more than a couple of hours of sleep nightly. 

The story’s main conflict is between the appearance of Chidi Anukwe in Gyikua’s life. He is one of her dad’s friends, Brother Emeka’s, only son who has come to Ghana for a couple months from their home in Nigeria. His life is shrouded in mystery with him owning a red Audi and eating mostly dessert for his meals. He connects with Gyikua by forgoing the popular group that is interested in him from his first day at their school and instead starts to sit by her at lunch. Then, during one of their morning assemblies, he gives her a Sudoku puzzle to complete by a certain day and this becomes a routine for the two of them. Sometimes Chidi gives her a cedi note and the puzzles become more complex as the story progresses. The story becomes centralized on the daily interactions and growing bond between Chidi and Gyikua that centers on similar tragic backgrounds. They also find commonalities with having trouble sleeping and go one some late-night adventures together in which Chidi shows her his photography skills. As the story evolves, Gyikua learns more about Chidi’s past and her to-do lists become empty by the end of the book with her living instead of planning every detail out. The story also features Chidi and Gyikua traveling to Accra, Ghana where Ntiriwa died and Chidi grew up. After this point, the story includes a shocking revelation and the rest of the book deals with the family’s reaction to the truth. The novel concludes with a culmination of the character arc for Gyikua and her outlook on her future is greatly changed from the beginning of the novel.

This book was interesting in that it presented the everyday life of an adolescent in Ghana without focusing on the mainstream narrative many American readers get about what African people’s realities are. I especially found Goka’s writing structure to be effective in expressing cultural differences while also including points of commonality through the exam stress and school culture. The book explores the implications of death on a family unit and shows two polarizing reactions of staying or abandoning one’s family when a parent’s mental health suffers. This story also echoes the notion of an adolescent being forced to grow up and adopt adult tendencies through Gyikua’s determination to keep her family running smoothly in her mother’s absence. I agree with the author’s exploration of faith in an adolescent’s life and find this topic to be relatable for readers who may also be experiencing a loss of faith due to a loss. Gyikua’s characterization also connects to the experience of being an adolescent by focusing on the things that she worries most about which are her family and her future. Her struggles with mental health and being able to sleep also can be relatable for readers undergoing similar periods of crisis in their life. I was greatly impacted by this book and it moved me to tears in multiple chapters because of the way in which it highlighted the emotional toll of loss. Goka’s writing was also effective in portraying sibling relations and the struggles that come with dealing with that amongst emotional upheavals. I think that Goka’s writing of leaving the mother’s perspective out of the story bolster a sense of ambiguity and allows for readers to imagine her story while navigating through the effects of her absence. This book would be best suited for an adolescent audience due to its focus on the adolescent experience in Ghana. I also would recommend this book to anyone who has gone through times of loss or felt alone in school settings due to rumors. Overall, this novel was one of my favorite young adult novels I have been able to read due to its exemplary writing and incorporation of relatable and important themes such as death, dying, growing up, and life outlooks.

Works Cited

“African Young Adult Literature.” CODE, CODE’s Burt Literary Awards, 2018,www.burtaward.org/african-young-adult-lit.

Goka, Ruby Yayra. “Book Cover of To Kiss a Girl.” Ruby Goka, 2018, www.rubygoka.com/more-info.

Goka, Ruby Yayra. To Kiss a Girl. Digibooks Ghana, 2018.