Girls with Grit series

Groundwood Books (of House of Anansi)  has always published amazingly strong literature for young people and are now marketing some of those titles under the distinction of  Girls with Grit. 

The books in this series are exemplary stories depicting the courage and tenacity of girls and young women who endure and even overcome challenges that include poverty, homelessness, abuse, war, leprosy and conflicts of all manner.  Whether used in the classroom to teach character education (these young women have lots of character) or as poignant, thought-provoking reads about others' lives, the Girls with Grit books should be read and read with thoughtfulness.

Corroborating their excellence, the authors and books in the series include finalists and winners of the Governor General's Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, the Canada Council Children's Literature Award, the Vicky Metcalf Award, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award and many more. 

Based on books listed at the House of Anansi site and the video embedded below, the following books (listed here alphabetically by author's last name) are tagged as Girls with Grit:

• Girl from Mars by Tamara Bach and translated by Shelley Tanaka

• Between Sisters by Adwoa Badoe

• True Confessions of a Heartless Girl by Martha Brooks

• Two Moons in August by Martha Brooks

• The Shepherd's Granddaughter by Anne Laurel Carter

• Broken Memory by Elisabeth Combres 

• earthgirl by Jennifer Cowan

• Mary Ann Alice by Brian Doyle

• Looking for X by Deborah Ellis

• No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis

• No Safe Place by Deborah Ellis

• The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

• Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis

• Mud City by Deborah Ellis

• Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen by Glen Huser

• Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan

• Home is Beyond the Mountains by Celia Barker Lottridge

• The Crazy Man by Pamela Porter

• I'll Be Watching by Pamela Porter

• The Saver by Edeet Ravel

• Snow Apples by Mary Razzell

• Wheels for Walking by Sandra Richmond

• Skim by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

• What Gloria Wants by Sarah Withrow 

(Any errors in exclusion from and inclusion in the list are completely my own, and will be amended as needed. HK)

I have to tell you that the reason I chose to post about the Girls with Grit series now was because yesterday I happened to come across a wonderful video of teens offering their takes on several books in the series.  I recalled my own emotional responses to several of the books and realized that, although published years earlier, these books should be read and revisited regularly, just to remind us of our own humanity.  Enjoy the books and the video, courtesy of Groundwood Books and House of Anansi.

Uploaded to YouTube by HouseOfAnansi on Oct 20, 2011