BOOK REVIEW // I AM MALALA

Friday 27 November 2015



I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. 

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

It's obvious Malala is an inspiration. I mean she won a Nobel Prize! However, the book took ages to get anywhere and I didn't really warm to her - maybe it was because I couldn't relate? Her courage to stand up to Taliban, her enthusiasm towards education and honesty about home life is what I admire most. To read how everything happened is just unbelievable; a Taliban leader jumped onto their school bus and shouted "Who is Malala?", no one answered, but many gazed right at her which made it so obvious. The Taliban fighter then shot her point-blank in the head! All for speaking about her God-given right to attend school! There are so many shocking moments in this book, I can only imagine how horrific it all was. You really get an insight to what went on. If you're someone who finds themselves reading a lot of fiction, or not reading at all, this is a perfect book to pick up. It's inspiring and honestly makes you realise how privileged you are. If you have read this, let me know in the comments what you thought of it?!

LRM

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