Malala Yousafzai

Describes the life of a young Pakistani student who advocated for women's rights and education in the Taliban-controlled Swat Valley who survived an assassination attempt and became the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. (This book was listed in a previous Forecast.)

The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

I Am Malala

The power of journalism to bring people together is incredible 

Sachi

One day a lady called Shehla Anjum turned up at our hostel. She Was a Pakistani journalist living in Alaska and wanted to meet me atter she had seen the documentary about us on the New York Times website.

In Pakistan when women say they want independence, people think this means we don't want to obey our fathers, brothers or husbands. But it does not mean that. It means we want to make decisions for ourselves. We want to be free to go to school or to go to work. 

A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE "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 became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize. 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.

Souhaila

Christina Lamb

*Winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize* In 2009 Malala Yousafzai began writing a blog on BBC Urdu about life in the Swat Valley as the Taliban gained control, at times banning girls from attending school. When her identity was discovered, Malala began to appear in both Pakistani and international media, advocating the freedom to pursue education for all. In October 2012, gunmen boarded Malala's school bus and shot her in the face, a bullet passing through her head and into her shoulder. Remarkably, Malala survived the shooting. At a very young age, Malala Yousafzai has become a worldwide symbol of courage and hope. Her shooting has sparked a wave of solidarity across Pakistan, not to mention globally, for the right to education, freedom from terror and female emancipation.

Jemima Scott

Timeo Williams

Content wise, this book had a consistent underlying message. However, the story itself, though a fully open one, is most inspiring. Malala is certainly someone I look up to, for her bravery, courage, intellectual curiosity and humility.

Amena Elkayal

♡ A few of this great book's quotes:♡
•"We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced"
•"One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world"
•"Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons"
•"If one man can destroy everything, why can't one girl change it"

Lamia Hajani

I'm actually embarrassed at how many people in the reviews think she was shot on purpose so she could move to England and become famous. That's literally insane. Stop thinking that way.

Moving on - I enjoyed the parts other people didn't. I love Pakistani history, because my mother loved it and instilled a love for it in me. I grew up learning about Pakistani history and politics, and I liked having it explained in an engaging format. 

What I didn't like was that, at some points, Malala's voice wasn't shining through. To be honest, I really wish Malala had gotten another Pakistani or at least someone in the diaspora to tell her story. Reflexivity matters, and I could tell I was reading through the eyes of a white woman, and I didn't like that. I hope in a few years, Malala tells her story through Malala's eyes. I'd give that 5 stars.

Peggy Walker

This was a timely selection of my book club. It prompted great discussion amongst the group and sharing of ideas on how one person can make a difference.

Jenny Vuu

The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban

kezzie

Ayesha ahmed

If this book was more of a memoir rather than historical facts and so on, it would have been much better.

Colleen

1 Star

Let me start by saying that what Malala has lived through and accomplished is incredible. I do not want my low rating of this book to imply that I am in any way unsupportive of her cause. Every single child in this world deserves a good education. No exception. But this book is so poorly written that it seems to counteract Malala's cause. As harsh as it sounds, while reading this book I kept wondering how she became famous from her writing if it was all as passionless and choppy as this book. I wonder if it was the fact that she did not write it in her native tongue, her very young age (fifteen), the fact that writing a book is nothing like writing some essays, that her coauthor did not provide sufficient guidance, that they rushed to finish it so that they could make a big production of releasing it on the one year anniversary of her shooting (I remember all the hubbub from when that happened), or some combination of the above. But the result is the same: regardless of the topic, the writing in this book is ineffectual and sloppy.

I had been meaning to read I Am Malala since it came out, but last month my bookclub selected it so I happily bumped it up my To Read list. I was genuinely excited to read it. I was expecting something emotionally moving and inspiring. Perhaps that is why I was surprised and disappointed.

I immediately found that the book was nothing like I expected. By the time my bookclub meeting came around, I had still only managed to trudge through the first four chapters. Despite that, I was able to completely participate in the discussion which did not leave me looking forward to the rest of the book. Now that I have finished reading it, I am glad I did not finish it before our discussion. I am used to the discomfort that comes from disliking something everyone else is gushing over, but no one else had anything less than glowing praise for this book.

I never once felt immersed in her story. The writing is juvenile and passionless. Yes, she was young, but she was also known for her words and supposed to be a smart, talented writer and wise beyond her years. But this book was written by someone with no idea how to relate strong emotions other than overusing exclamation points. Large parts of it felt like a poorly written school report on the history of her country with a few personal anecdotes thrown in randomly. She jumped around with no forethought or flow. There are huge sections of flat infodumps that do little to truly inform. There is no good description. She talks about things without ever bringing them to life. I felt no cultural immersion and the only thing I can say I learned was more about Benazir Bhutto. But most of the time she skips around with no segues. For example:

"The new girls had horrible stories. Ayesha told us how one day on the way home from Sangota she had seen a Taliban holding up the severed head of a policeman by its hair, blood dripping from the neck. The Sangota girls were also very bright, which meant more competition. One of them, Rida, was excellent at making speeches."

How does someone go from taking about beheaded bodies to complaining about having more competition at school??

Between going over events from before she was born, when she was too little to remember, things she was alive for but did not witness first hand, the shooting (which she does not remember due to trauma), and after when she was in a medically induced coma, at least half of this book (if not more) is her relaying secondhand information in a stilted and incongruous way. The parts that she did experience first hand were never fleshed out. For example, I would have liked to read about her time as a refugee, but she skips entirely over that. Considering this is billed as a memoir, it lacks insight and emotional depth. She tells but never shows. Rather than truly focusing on her own experiences and feelings, she spends most of the book sloppily repeating what other people said. 

Much of what other people were saying was how great Malala was. The book is filled with a nauseating amount of self-praise and humble brags. Oh, she is always quick to point out that other people are the ones saying those things. But it gave the entire book a conceited and immature feel. I tried to keep an open mind, but by the end I was grinding my teeth in frustration at her sanctimonious and pretentious bragging. 

"'Malala was a lucky girl,' says Hidayatullah. 'When she was born our luck changed.'"

"By the age of seven I was used to being top of my class. I was the one who would help other pupils who had difficulties."

"'You should be more like Malala and do other things,' said Madam Maryam."

"Seeing me like that was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. All children are special to their parents, but to my father I was his universe."

"They had no appetite... They felt incomplete without me." (speaking of her family while she was in the hospital)

"They spent six hours discussing me! Perhaps more than any politician he understood the political implications if I did not survive."

"'We are very happy our daughter has survived.' He said 'our' because I was now the daughter of the nation."

"My father would boast to people about 'my heavenly smile and heavenly laughter.'"

"I quickly realized that I could treat them [her brothers] how I liked and I wouldn't get told off."

"At the boys' school Sir Amjad has put a big poster of me at the entrance and says he greets it every morning."

"After Googling me [the doctor] realized I was no ordinary case. 'If anything happened to her, it would have been blamed on the white woman ... if she'd died, I would have killed Pakistan's Mother Teresa.'"

Yes, she makes sure that the reader knows people compare her to Mother Teresa. And the cultural icon she was named after. And Anne Frank. She goes on ad nauseam about all of the import political people who gave her attention, all of the people who wanted to visit her in the hospital, all of the celebrities who validated her, all of the awards she won, the things named after her, etc. Her protestations that these honors were for her cause and not her rang increasingly hollow. Because all in all, she barely discussed her cause in this book - which was what I found most frustrating of all. Beyond saying that she supports education for women, you could not gleam much else of her viewpoints from this book. You will definitely know how much she loves Twilight and Ugly Betty. She spends pages and pages talking about how good she is at school and how amazing her grades are. But the content of message?? Notably absent from this story. She talks about giving speeches but that always turns into bragging about being on TV or the radio and the attention it got her. She never truly discusses the content of those speeches. She must have said more compelling things that what was in her book or she never would have gotten as famous as she did no matter who her father was.

And speaking of her father, I felt that this story would have been monumentally more moving if told from his perspective. He is, after all, the one who set all of this in motion. He is the one defied society's norms and set out to teach all children. He is the one who encouraged his daughter to learn and to speak out. It was his dream. And so much of the book is just Malala choppily repeating his words and his experiences that I thought over and over how much better it would be coming directly from him. But that would never sell as well as a pretty little girl getting shot. 

The overall result is a disappointing mess of bad writing specifically geared to guilt the heartstrings of Westerners. This felt like a publicity stunt not an impassioned address on her cause. The only decent writing in the entire book is in the prologue and epilogue where you get a glimmer of the spark that she puts into her speeches. So perhaps you are better off just reading the prologue and epilogue, skipping the nonsense in the middle, and watching some of her speeches. 

If anyone has any recommendations for better written nonfiction about Pakistan or Women's Rights in the Middle East, please let me know. I am truly interested in learning more in spite of the disappointment of this book.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 2 Stars
Writing Style: 1 Star
Emotional Level: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star
Attention to Detail: 2 Stars
Objectiveness: 1 Star

Cristian Garcia

No pude dejar de leer este libro.
Lo tomé 1 día antes de viajar. Leí en el taxi, en el aeropuerto, mientras volaba y antes de dormir. Lo terminé rápido y apenas lo hice, quedé con ganas de saber más de Malala.
Su historia es impresionante. Viviendo en India y con una familia que es 1/4 de India, sentí en carne propia lo que pasó con los talibanes en SWAT y cómo todo se fue formando en torno a ella, representando a todas las niñas y niños que son segregados.
Hermoso y duro relato. Me encanto el libro. Lo recomiendo 100%

I am Malala

Sanaa Shaltout

طفل واحد، معلم واحد، كتاب واحد، قلم واحد ... يمكنهم أن يغيروا العالم.
إن صوتاً واحداً بوسعه أن يُحدث تغييراً في العالم.

أنا ملالا .. تغير عالمي و لم أتغير

أرجو أن لا تغير الظروف من براءتك وطفولتك ملالا فالحياة ليست بهذه البساطة ياطفلتي =D


....ولا تنسي المثل القائل في بلدكم .. عندما تبدأ رحلتك من طرف ذيل الثعبان فسوف ينتهي بك الطريق عند رأسه فتغرق في بحر السموم 

ليس كل من يقدم لكِ يد العون يحبك فهذه الدنيا تتبع المثل القائل في بلدي مصر تبع مصلحة الضرائب مصلحتك أولاً

علي فكرة أنا لما فكرت اقرأ سيرتك قريتها علشان أشوف مين البنت اللى عندها 17 سنة ورشحت لجايزة نوبل وبقول لواحدة كانت معايا في كورس تعرفي ملالا اللى اترشحت لنوبل قالت أه أصل الغرب بيدي الجايزة لأي حد يحارب الإسلام علي فكرة البنت اللى قالت كدا المفروض دكتوره اه والله أنا مش قصدى تزعلي بس بعرفك غن فيه شخصيات عقيمة كتير في كل مكان مش في سوات ولا باكستان بس ومتعلمين للاسف :(
ربنا يوفك وعايزاكي بعد 10 أو 20 سنة تقرأى سيرتك دي وقولى الفرق بين قرايتك لها دلوقتى وبعدين :) 
مازلتِ الطفلة الجميلة الشجاعة ياملالا <3

RunLevelRobot

I Am Malala. This is my story. Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school. Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause: She was shot point-blank while riding the bus on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. In this Young Readers Edition of her bestselling memoir, which has been reimagined specifically for a younger audience and includes exclusive photos and material, we hear firsthand the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world -- and did. Malala's powerful story will open your eyes to another world and will make you believe in hope, truth, miracles and the possibility that one person -- one young person -- can inspire change in her community and beyond.

How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)

Sean Valencia Monte

The first memoir I read, and it definitely did not disappoint. All the challenges that Malala faced are honestly so inspiring... We need more people like her in this world 🙏. I just watched her United Nations Speech and it's so good. I want an updated version of her life in a book cause a lot probably has happened after this was released. 100% recommend reading this. I wonder what happened to Moniba.

Tayyibah S

One of THE best autobiographies I have ever read. It's gripping, enrapturing, and has story like tone. I love this book. Periodt. I've read it twice and I'm still so entranced every time I read it. It's like a whole new era of storytelling and I freaking love it.

priya

I started this book without reading any reviews because I thought I knew how important it was. I was wrong. It is so much more important and empowering and courageous than that. A lot of ‘I am Malala’ revolves around politics and militancy, but the best parts show how brave Malala, and her father, are in fighting for girls’ right to education. This really is a grassroots kind of story and is so relevant, not just to Pakistan, but to a lot of places in the world where girls (and boys) are being denied an education due to war, militancy, corruption, poverty and rule. 

 TW: violence (mostly off-page), misogyny

“Children in the refugee camps were even given school textbooks produced by an American university which taught basic arithmetic through fighting. They had examples like, ‘If out of 10 Russian infidels, 5 are killed by one Muslim, 5 would be left’ or ‘15 bullets – 10 bullets = 5 bullets’.”

“I am proud that our country was created as the world’s first Muslim homeland, but we still don’t agree on what this means. The Quran teaches us sabar – patience – but often it feels that we have forgotten the word and think Islam means women sitting at home in purdah or wearing burqas while men do jihad.”

“It was as though they wanted to remove all traces of womankind from public life.”

“Funeral prayers had been under way for a popular local police officer, Javid Iqbal, who had been killed by a suicide bomber in a remote area while trying to escape from the Taliban ... Now the Taliban had bombed the mourners.”

“The state is meant to protect the rights of its citizens, but it’s a very difficult situation when you can’t tell the difference between state and non-state and can’t trust the state to protect you against non-state.”

“If one man, Fazlullah, can destroy everything, why can’t one girl change it?”

“One day I saw my little brother Atal digging furiously in the garden. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked him.‘Making a grave,’ he said. Our news bulletins were full of killings and death so it was natural for Atal to think of coffins and graves. Instead of hide and seek and cops and robbers, children were now playing Army vs Taliban.”

“When our bus hit a pothole on the way back my brother Khushal, who had been asleep, jerked awake. ‘Was that a bomb blast?’ he asked.”

“People were rightly outraged, but this reaction seemed odd to us as it showed they had no idea of the awful things going on in our valley. I wished their outrage extended to the Taliban’s banning of girls’ education.”

“But now they [the US] seemed to be more alarmed about Pakistan than Afghanistan. Not because of girls like me and my school but because our country has more than 200 nuclear warheads and they were worried about who was going to control them.”

“Amazingly three-quarters of all the IDPs were put up by the people of Mardan and the nearby town of Swabi. They opened the doors of their homes, schools and mosques to the refugees ... In order to protect women’s purdah, men in families hosting the refugees even slept away from their own homes. They became voluntary IDPs. It was an astonishing example of Pashtun hospitality ... if the exodus had been managed by the government many more would have died of hunger and illness.”

“We people of Swat were first seduced by the Taliban, then killed by them and now blamed for them.”

“People had lived by the river in Swat for 3,000 years and always seen it as our lifeline, not a threat, and our valley as a haven from the outside world. Now we had become ‘the valley of sorrows’, said my cousin Sultan Rome. First the earthquake, then the Taliban, then the military operation and now, just as we were starting to rebuild, devastating floods arrived to wash all our work away.”

“My only ambition,’ he said, ‘is to educate my children and my nation as much as I am able. But when half of your leaders tell lies and the other half is negotiating with the Taliban, there is nowhere to go. One has to speak out.”

“The army had been saying for ages that there were no Taliban in Mingora and that they had cleared them all out. Now this general was telling him that there had been twenty-two of them in our town for at least two months. The army had also insisted Zahid Khan was shot in a family feud and not by the Taliban. Now they were saying I had been targeted by the same Taliban as him.”

“I don’t want to be thought of as ‘the girl who was shot by the Taliban’ but ‘the girl who fought for education’.”

Malala is such an incredible human being - a must read book for all

Caroline Lewicki

Malala's story is a powerful one. I had no idea she had been such an advocate for education before she was shot by the Taliban, but she has fought for education reform and rights from a young age. 

The beginning of the book is a bit tough to get through, though it is interesting. Malala highlights the history of her family, Pakistan, and the Taliban, facts that are incredibly important to understanding her story.

She then discusses the events leading up to the fateful day she was shot by the Taliban. You can easily see how strong her passion for education is and how willing she is to fight for education rights for all people. Finally, Malala talks about her feelings after the tragic incident. Her voice is powerful and shines throughout the book, but you can really feel it here.

I would highly recommend Malala's story to anyone. There is an abridged version for young readers, but I didn't feel there was anything too graphic in here for younger audiences. Unfortunately, what Malala faced is reality for many girls all over the world and I feel it's important for kids to know, especially so they can greater appreciate the opportunity they have for education here in the United States and other developed countries.

Kerry Gibbons

Truly, this young woman has accomplished so much in her life and has faced all of it with determination and positivity.

A wonder to listen to.

Laurel Ann Smith

Absolutely amazing story and terrific look the history of Pakistan and whay life looks like there. 4 stars because it is poorly written so it's a difficult read 😔

Jelke Lenaerts

This is such an important book !!!! Please make sure everybody reads it. Especially in today's society.

Yoomi

"I realized what the Taliban had done was make my campaign global."

I had not heard of Malala before this book was published. Then I saw her on The Daily Show. Hearing her speak, her composure and her strength convinced me that I had to read her book. While there are parts that feel uneven, as if they were written by someone else, when she writes about her home, her books, her passion for education, her voice is clear and confident. By the end of the book, I was in tears. I wish her nothing but the best. I hope she lives to see her country at peace.

Gabriela Gutierrez 

Alexandra Gillgrass

I picked this gem up in a charity shop after wanting to read it for quite a while. 

I've recently been getting into women's rights and feminism and all that goes along with it lately so I thought that this book would definitely be my sort of thing. 

I was instantly hooked with Malala's story and how brave she is and was. If you're in any way shape or form an activist then this book will definitely get you fired up and wanting to fight for the cause she believes so passionately. 

The writing style is relatively easy to read and the story flows really well. There were some terms which I didn't understand but there is a glossary at the back so there really is no excuse. 

She is a very inspiring lady and I'm glad I know more about her and her story

The book that inspired the film He Named Me Malala--now a major motion picture! I Am Malala. This is my story. Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school. Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause: She was shot point-blank while riding the bus on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. In this Young Readers Edition of her bestselling memoir, which has been reimagined specifically for a younger audience and includes exclusive photos and material, we hear firsthand the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world -- and did. Malala's powerful story will open your eyes to another world and will make you believe in hope, truth, miracles and the possibility that one person -- one young person -- can inspire change in her community and beyond.

sera

I have no words to describe this, someone actually went through this. Reading this is a punch reminder that we should not take our freedom for granted.

Jeni Enjaian

I do not know whether the "young readers" version that I checked out from the library differed from the standard version. However, I thought the book read as a strong piece of literature with simple text yet text that did not dumb down the situation for the target demographic or young readers.
I think that all should read this highly well-written autobiography. This young woman has gone through enormous life changing events and still continues to advocate for what's right.
I highly recommend this book.

I Am Malala The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

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