From the Bookshelf of Diversity in All Forms!…

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Start date: October 1, 2018

Finish date: October 30, 2018

Discussion: Author's Pick

Why we're reading this: October's Author's Pick: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie…more
[close] October's Author's Pick: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 66 topics — 403 comments total

Author's Pick

Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country
By Michaela · 1 post · 15 views

last updated Oct 04, 2023 11:14AM

Future Home of the Living God
By Michaela · 4 posts · 22 views

last updated Aug 09, 2023 11:33AM

What Members Thought

Mar 18, 2017 Ammar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2017, female-authors

What a timely book.

Chimamanda delivers a pamphlet in my opinion in 15 suggestion to her friend Ijeawele on how to raise her newborn daughter Chizalum .

She should read
She should be kind and stand for herself
She should fall in love and understand sex
And many others

This book is practical
Helpful and makes you think and understand and review your childhood and how parenting happens

27 likes · Like · see review

Aug 25, 2017 Meg - A Bookish Affair rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I listened to this on audiobook. It's short but important for anyone raising a child, especially a female child. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 28, 2017 Kay Dee (what is your storygraph name? mine is in my bio. join me!) Meadows rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, black-folks, self-help, sounds-emotional, i-read-this-and-will-read-it-again, prose-like-poetry-so-lyrical, reference, short-yay

great lil book. short and simple.
great advice for parents but also people in general.
changing the way we think in regards to gender and stereotyping. not putting girls and boys in lil boxes from birth.
also practical ways to STOP gender stereotyping and practical ways to broaden your child's views and let them be who they are.

i think i highlighted every other sentence!
so many nuggets of wisdom and practical knowledge or epiphanies or "yaaaaas!" moments. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 15, 2017 Bonnie Brandt rated it really liked it

Beautiful and well thought out. Patient, calm, and strong!

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2017 Melissa Rochelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2017

Excellent advice and so many good examples of what “feminist” means.

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 05, 2024 Kris rated it really liked it

Excellent basic feminism intro, but far too binary.

I am critiquing the book here, not the author. I have issues with Adiche's TERFy statements and do not support those views in the slightest. Don't go defending JK and thinking I'm gonna be cool with that.

Don't give her money. Some of the ideas expressed here are worth considering, but get it from your library. Yep, that is giving her money indirectly, but we have to buy those books anyway (speaking as a librarian. I have to purchase books that ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2018 Krissy rated it it was amazing

I will raise my children on this. I will praise this essay to the skies and talk it up to my best of friends and family, and strangers alike. I dislike that the term feminist is in the title because of society. Will someone glance at this with disdain because there go the feminists pushing their ideals again?! The wisdom in this essay is simple, beautiful, and common sense. It's a shame some might not bother to see it because of a label. These are quality thoughts on how women are just as capabl ...more

Like · see review

Jan 09, 2018 Becca rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, 2018

Adichie writes a letter to her friend about how to raise her daughter as a feminist, posing 13 guidelines that offer thoughtful questions into the process of raising strong girls.

This a short, quick read, and I adore Adichie's bold writing. This is my new baby shower gift to any friends having or adopting children. :) While I didn't agree with every single item, I loved about 99% of her principals, and found myself nodding my head as I read. I especially loved the role-reversal question, which i ...more

Like · see review

Jul 21, 2020 Lindsay rated it really liked it

I feel that some of these suggestions are directed towards someone new to feminism, while some other suggestions were great reminders for those that have been feminists for a while. A solid good read I recommend for everyone.

Like · see review