Review: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick

Edition: Paperback, 272 pages
Published by: Indigo, 2nd October 2015
Genre: Cultural, Family, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Social Issues, War
Rating: 5 stars
Completed: 27th December 2015

Written by Malala for her peers, this is the girl behind the Nobel Prize-winning icon.

Film tie-in edition with HE NAMED ME MALALA, released 6th November, which tells Malala’s story from Nobel Peace Prize to netball courts. The film has now been shortlisted for an Oscar in the Documentary Feature category.

Malala is the most significant teenager of the twenty first century. She 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 9 October, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause. She was shot point-blank on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive.
Now she is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.

This is the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world-and did. It will open your eyes to another world and will make you believe in hope, truth, miracles, and the determination of one person to inspire change.

‘It’s a searing and personal portrait of a young woman who dared to make a difference’ PW

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I don’t watch the BBC News anymore (when I should do!) I have to excuse myself for being behind on the loop. So the first time I heard about Malala Yousafzai was on Teens React. All I knew from the video was that it was about a girl who got shot by the Taliban for speaking out for girls’ right to an education. She survived the shot and since then has continued her campaign and won many prestigious prizes including the Noble Peace Prize.

This book was absolutely AMAZING. Honestly, I don’t remember the last book I read where I felt really inspired and touched. Some of us complain about school (I was one of them), complain about teachers, how much homework you have to do and how much exams you have to study for. You often hear the phrase ‘school sucks,’ and I do understand the feeling, but sometimes we don’t appreciate free education, as we should do. There is a reason why school is compulsory.

But here is a young girl called Malala Yousafzai who is the top of her class, loves going to school and loves learning new things. Malala fights for a girl’s right to an education because the Taliban has banned it in Swat Valley, where she lived. The Taliban say its because schools are promoting Western cultures (something along those lines) It’s absolutely outrageous. Why is it that boys are allowed to go to school and not girls? Malala wasn’t going to just sit back and allow her right to an education to be taken away from her. Therefore she took action. With the influence from Malala’s father and the encouragement from her mother, she was able to gain the confidence to stand up for girls’ education and allow for her voice to be heard all around the world. Even though she was shot in the head and survived, she did not allow this to prevent her from doing something she truly believes in and that’s really inspirational. Malala is someone that all girls should look up to.

Before reading this, I was unaware of what was really happening in Pakistan and it has given me an eye-opener into Malala’s life and it’s interesting to read about her culture. It was dangerous for her to work undercover as a blogger for the BBC and speaking out in public because it could get her killed, but she did it because she disagrees with the Taliban law. If not her, then who will? I really admired her passion and determination.

I highly recommend this. I think it teaches you a lot about human rights and activism. Make sure you pick up the full version! I picked up the teen version thinking it was the full version. My review doesn’t do the book justice; you should read it for yourself. Last book read in 2015. This is 100% a 5 star book! This was a very inspirational and thought-provoking read.