Book Review: I’m Malala
Malala is the youngest person who had ever win a nobel price. She was born in Pakistán in 1997. She is a proud young Pashtun. She fought for girls education rights, she fought for her right to learn, and she also fought for her life, because she was shot. Malala Yousafzai wrote “I’m Malala” with Patricia Mc Cormick’s help. She wrote about her life, her country, and how she changed the world. This book tells the story of a Pakistan girl, who had everything against her but still risked her life for her right of going to school.
This book is divided in five parts. In each part, Malala writes about a chapter in her life. The first part of her book is called: before the Taliban. Malala tells how she is a normal girl. She has two brothers, and she lives with both of her parents. Before the Taliban, she used to live in a valley in the north of Pakistan (Swat). She used to play cricket, and she loved cupcakes. As a normal girl, she used to go to school, she had friends, and she loved the life she had. Her father owned a school, for both girls and boys, this fact definitely was important for the rest of the story.
In the second chapter Malala describes how her valley changed after the terrorist invaded it. She tells the story of the Taliban leaders, how they approached to the people and how they got their power. Also, she explains how “education was first a right and then it became a crime” because of these extremist group. In the whole chapter, Malala shows how much education matters for her. And she shows how much the Taliban regimen affected her community and her learning process. When the Taliban came in, the streets changed, the laws were different and being a woman was dangerous.
After the Taliban invaded the Pashtun community, Malala’s life changed. The streets were always empty, there was no women walking in the streets without their husbands, she couldn’t go to school, etc. Even though this affected everyone, no one said anything. The third chapter, finding my voice,is about how life changed in Swat and how Malala’s family decided they couldn’t stay quiet, they decided to act. Malala’s father started to raise his voice among other educators, and they got some attention. Malala and some of her friends decided to go to school secretly. But what really got everyone’s attention was the fact that Malala, at the age of twelve, started to write a blog about girls education in Swat. The blog went viral and suddenly there was international crowd reading her posts, she got the worlds attention, she wasn’t alone.
In this third chapter Malala also tells how she had to move from Swat. The Taliban started to kill a lot of persons and they started to threat Malala’s father’s life. This was the reason why Malala’s whole family had to move from their house to Shangla. Through the whole book, Malala tells a lot about how violent the Taliban were. She talks about how the press, the television and everything was controlled by the Taliban and how desperate she was for some freedom. She wanted to go home, she wanted to study and she wanted to be a free Pashtun “I missed my house, my books, my school, even Ugly Betty” p. 118
After a while, Malala became a little bit famous. She was known as the girl who was brave enough to speak. She went to leadership seminars representing her old school. She talked in television. She got prices. She defended her right to study. Malala’s message was definitely against the Taliban, even though they had no longer the power in Swat. In the fourth chapter, Malala describes how her life TRULY changed because of her cause. One day, when she was coming from school, a man approached her and shoot her.
The fifth chapter is called: a new life far from home. After she got shot, Malala woke up in a hospital, surrounded by expensive machines, television in english, letters, flowers and without her family. She woke up in Birmingham, UK. Her life changed again, she was weak, she went through a coma and she wasn’t at home. Malala describes in this chapter her experience in the hospital, how she felt when she saw her face after being shot in the head. She talks about how she felt when she saw her family again. And she expresses how thankful she is that she is not dead, how thankful she is because she can still defend girl’s rights.
I’m Malala gives you not only the writer’s perspective. The book is complemented with history data, with geography facts and with political information. Having this complement makes the reading more interesting and engaging. This is not only a novel about a teenager. Through the book, you can perceive how Pakistan changed and you can understand Malala’s decisions by understanding her context. This is a strong book, but definitely a book for any age.
Malala’s book is life changing. The book makes you think about your opportunities, about how lucky you are because you can go to school. This book sends a strong message: fight for what you believe in. The most impacting thing about I’m Malala is that this strong woman, was only a teenager when everything happened. She wanted to eat cupcakes, watch television and play with her brothers, but she decided she wanted to fight. She had everything against her cause. A conservative culture, a religious terrorist group, even her age, but she didn’t feel weak, she wanted to speak. Malala wanted to go freely to school.
Malala’s story is a mark in history. This book is a must for those who want to understand how’s life in the midwest. I’m Malala is definitely the perfect mix between history, politics, religion, education and a normal girl’s life. Seeing the history of Pakistan from a girl’s perspective makes this book more engaging and universal.
