This paper conducts a comparative analysis of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, two seminal debut novels that explore the coming-of-age experiences and identity quests of Africana girls within colonial, patriarchal, and racially dominant contexts. The analysis delves into the nuanced ways these authors portray the struggles of Africana girls as they navigate systemic forces that both constrain their identities and undermine their agency and creativity. By employing the “Black Ratchet Imagination” (BRI) theory as articulated by Stallings (2013), this study illuminates how, despite their disparate geographical and cultural settings, Morrison and Dangarembga provide a platform for young Africana girls to assert their voices and construct discursive spaces conducive to their empowerment and liberation. The BRI framework sheds light on the imaginative capacities of these young Black protagonists, revealing their resilient efforts to reconstruct their identities in response to the pervasive effects of "adultification" and "misogynoir," which impact their lives and challenge their mental well-being. Keywords: Black Ratchet Imagination, Africana girls, identity quest, agency, adultification, misogynoir