The Girl Who Can by Ama Ata Aidoo
Quick answer: The Girl Who Can by Ama Ata Aidoo, ICSE Class 10 Treasure Chest: Adjoa's thin legs, Nana's worries, the school races and the trophy, themes, characters and exam answers.
A seven-year-old girl in a Ghanaian village listens to her grandmother complain, again, that her legs are too thin to carry the hips a woman will need for childbearing.
Ama Ata Aidoo (1942 to 2023), the Ghanaian writer, tells this story in Adjoa's own voice; it is set for ICSE Class 10 in the Treasure Chest anthology.
The story in brief
Adjoa lives in Hasodzi, a big village in the Central Region of Ghana, with her mother Kaya and her grandmother Nana. Nana talks constantly about Adjoa's spindly legs, saying legs should be strong and hips wide for bearing children, and she scoffs at the school Kaya insists on. Adjoa has learned that adults do not want children to ask questions, so she keeps her thoughts to herself.
At school Adjoa is chosen to run for her class and then for the school in the district games. She wins race after race and brings home a cup. Nana, astonished, carries the trophy on her back like a baby, then carefully washes and irons Adjoa's uniform herself. At last she admits that thin legs may be good for something after all, and Adjoa wonders whether the adults will now listen to what a child has to say.
The people in it
Three generations of women.
- Adjoa: quiet, quick, full of questions she has learned not to ask.
- Nana: the grandmother whose love is expressed as criticism until the trophy arrives.
- Kaya: the mother who believes in school and stays mostly in the background.
Themes and meaning
Exam readings include a girl's worth beyond childbearing, the generation gap, and the pride of a grandmother learning late. The sharper point is that Adjoa never argues; she simply runs, and the story lets an achievement do what a speech could not. Aidoo also keeps the child's voice consistently wry, so the adults are seen clearly without being mocked.
The craft: a child narrator who notices everything
Aidoo lets Adjoa report the adults' talk verbatim and then think about it, so the reader receives both the prejudice and the child's silent answer. The turn is the trophy on Nana's back, a gesture worth more than her words. Writers can steal the child narrator who observes without protesting, and an ending that converts a critic through action rather than argument.
For the exam
Quick material for ICSE Class 10.
- Word meanings: spindly, long and thin; childbearing, having babies; district, local administrative area; gleaming, shining; scoff, mock; verandah, covered open porch.
- Character sketch of Nana in 60 words: Adjoa's grandmother is loud, opinionated and traditional, convinced that a woman's legs exist to carry childbearing hips and that Adjoa's thin legs are a misfortune. She doubts the value of school. Yet when Adjoa wins the district races, Nana carries the cup on her back and irons the uniform herself, and her pride shows a love that her complaints had hidden.
- Q: Why does Nana worry about Adjoa's legs? A: She believes thin legs cannot support the hips a woman needs for childbearing, the role she assumes for every girl.
- Q: How does Adjoa prove her worth? A: She is chosen to run for her school, wins the district races and brings home a trophy.
- Q: How does Nana react to the victory? A: She carries the cup on her back, washes and irons the uniform, and admits thin legs can be useful.
- Summary in 100 words: Adjoa, seven, lives in Hasodzi with her mother Kaya and grandmother Nana, who complains constantly that Adjoa's thin legs will never carry the hips needed for childbearing and doubts the point of school. Adjoa keeps her questions to herself, knowing adults dislike them. At school she is picked to run, first for her class and then for the school at the district games, and she wins, bringing home a cup. Nana carries the trophy on her back like a baby and irons Adjoa's uniform herself, conceding at last that thin legs can be good for running.
What writers can take from this
- Name the setting, Hasodzi in Ghana's Central Region, and the three women in your opening.
- Explain Nana's view of legs and hips precisely; the story's meaning depends on the assumption behind it.
- Describe the trophy on Nana's back as the emotional turning point.
- Writers, let a child narrator report adult talk and then think about it privately.
- Convert your story's critic through an action they cannot argue with.
Try it yourself
Write a story narrated by a child whose body or ability is constantly discussed by adults as a problem. The child must never argue back, and the story must end with the adults changed by something the child does rather than says.
Questions
What is the theme of The Girl Who Can?
A girl's worth measured beyond childbearing. Nana sees Adjoa's thin legs as a misfortune for a future mother, but Adjoa's victories in the school races show the grandmother, and the reader, that a girl's body can be for her own achievement.
Why does Nana carry the trophy on her back?
She carries the cup like a baby, the way she would carry an infant, to show how proud she is. The gesture reveals a love that her constant complaints about Adjoa's legs had concealed.
Who narrates The Girl Who Can?
Adjoa herself, a seven-year-old from Hasodzi in Ghana, who reports the adults' conversations closely and keeps her own questions private because she has learned that grown-ups dislike being asked.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
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