The Kaya Girl by Mamle Wolo

In a bustling market in Ghana’s capital city, the lives of two very different girls collide. Neither of them will ever be the same.

Abena is spending her summer vacation working at her auntie’s shop in Makola Market, a place she and her wealthy friends would typically never go. She would sooner be found at the mall. Faiza is a Muslim migrant worker from the North who makes her living in the market as a porter, carrying goods in a bowl balanced on her head.

When the two girls meet, they forge an unlikely and powerful friendship. So different in their experiences, each opens the door to an unseen world for the other—and is forever changed by what they discover. Playing out against an eye-opening backdrop of wealth and poverty, the story of these two teenagers vibrates with unforgettable characters crossing the chasms of difference that divide us—and celebrating the deeper truths that bring the best of friends together.