Jacana Media is thrilled, no, excited, no, over the moon, to announce the forthcoming publication of Girls Don’t Do That, by Thembi Kgatlana and Nikolaos Kirkinis. In this wonderfully written book, Thembi Kgatlana tells the story of her humble beginnings in Mohlakeng, the expectations placed on young girls in the community, and the defiant spirit of a future national treasure.
‘Girls don’t do that!’, they said when Thembi first took up football. Her hard work, her determination and ability to put the insults behind her led her to play for Banyana Banyana and to be named one of the greatest players on the African continent. The book is beautifully illustrated by the award-winning illustrators Chantelle and Burgen Thorne. Girls Don’t Do That will be published in Afrikaans, English, Setswana, isiZulu and isiXhosa for children aged 6 to 10, in April 2023.
Banyana Banyana’s Thembi Kgatlana is celebrated worldwide – she represented South Africa in the 2016 Summer Olympics; she was the leading goal scorer and Player of the Tournament at the 2018 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations; is the second woman player to win the African Player of the year award after Noko Matlou; and she netted South Africa’s first-ever goal at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019. She has played for international clubs Houston Dash (USA), Beijing BG Phoenix (China), SL Benfica (Portugal), SD Eibar (Spain) and Atlético Madrid Femenino (Spain). Thembi has just signed a two-year deal with Racing Louisville FC in the US.
Nikolaos Kirkinis is a former journalist, and author of the bestselling book The Curse of Teko Modise, Strike a Rock: the Thembi Kgatlana Story and Ghetto Ninja: The Junior Khanye Story. He was born and raised in Johannesburg.